scholarly journals Can power-sharing foster peace? Evidence from Northern Ireland*

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (95) ◽  
pp. 447-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Mueller ◽  
Dominic Rohner
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Absence Of Power ◽  
Relative Gains ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn the absence of power-sharing, minority groups in opposition have powerful incentives to substitute the ballot with the bullet. In contrast, when power is shared among all major groups in society, the relative gains of sticking to electoral politics are larger for minority groups. After making the theoretical argument, we provide in the current paper an empirical analysis of the impact of power-sharing at the local level, making use of fine-grained data from Northern Ireland’s 26 local district councils over the 1973–2001 period. We find that power-sharing has a sizable and robust conflict-reducing impact.

An Experiment in Coercive Consociation

2019 ◽  
pp. 87-134
Author(s):  
Brendan O’Leary
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Good Friday Agreement ◽  
The Impact

The making of the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) of 1985 is examined in detail, and interpretations of its significance are assessed. Was the AIA simply a form of inter-governmentalism, or was it tacitly or unintentionally a project to incentivize unionists to favor power-sharing? That is, is it best interpreted as a coercive way of promoting consociation? The impact of the 1985 AIA is assessed across parties, movements, and paramilitaries, and in particular its impact on the administration of justice, and on social justice within Northern Ireland, is discussed. Its foundational role in making the Good Friday Agreement possible is also highlighted.

Territory, religion, and vote: nationalization of politics and the Catholic party in Italy

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-43
Author(s):  
Piero Ignazi ◽  
Spencer Wellhofer
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Regional Models ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Statistical Measures ◽  
Electoral Behaviour ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Level Of Analysis ◽  
The Way

This analysis challenges the consensus that, in post-war Italy the Catholic party [Democrazia Cristiana (Dc)], actively supported by the Catholic Church, fostered a process of vote nationalization. The paper, drawing upon a more fine-grained level of analysis, different statistical measures, and within and across regional models, provides a more nuanced interpretation. According to our analysis, although the Dc effectively acted as a homogenizing agent until the late 1970s, after that decade the processes of modernization and secularization fostered the decline of religious-based politics, and of the Dc itself. Such decline opened the way for the re-emergence of a territorial cleavage and a consequent dis-homogenization of Italian electoral politics. The paper demonstrated that the impact of modernization and secularization on the vote for the Catholic party is more significant considering the five Italy’s geo-political areas rather than the country as a whole. Moreover, the divergent path in the five areas testifies the re-emergence of territory in the Italian electoral behaviour. Territorial heterogeneity, modernization, and secularization were central to the collapse of the Dc.

scholarly journals Creating a ‘We-feeling’ in Heterogeneous Nations: A Cross-country Investigation of the Impact of Inclusion and Autonomy on the National Pride of Ethnic Minorities

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Bühlmann ◽  
Miriam Hänni
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
National Pride ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In this contribution, we investigate the impact of different institutions on ethnic minorities’ political support. Based on a hierarchical cross-country comparison, we first show that individuals belonging to ethnic minorities have less national identity than the majority groups within the same country. We then test whether this negative effect of belonging to ethnic minorities can be attenuated by institutions. First, we argue that the inclusion of ethnic minorities by power-sharing institutions gives them the possibility to have a say in politics and, therefore, they develop a sense of common identity. Second, when minority groups are given the autonomy to preserve their group identity, e.g., in federal units, they develop positive feelings for the whole nation and finally a national identity. Our multilevel analyses show that autonomy indeed attenuates the negative effect of minority status on national pride, but that this is not the case for inclusive institutions. In light of increasing heterogeneisation of societies because of migration and denationalization, our findings contribute to the discussion on the relationship between growing ethnic pluralism and good functioning of democratic regimes.

5. The twenty-first century

2020 ◽  
pp. 104-120
Author(s):  
Marc Mulholland
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
First Century ◽  
Sinn Fein ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Good Friday Agreement ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Impact

‘The twenty-first century’ explains how the Good Friday Agreement saw considerable institutional restructuring in Northern Ireland. An Assembly was elected in 1998, with a power-sharing government, with David Trimble of the UUP as First Minister and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP as Deputy First Minister operating between 1998 and 2001. Between 2001 and 2007, the power-sharing government collapsed and the DUP and Sinn Féin succeeded in becoming the main political parties for their respective communities. The 2006 St Andrews Agreement brought the extremes together. The power-sharing government collapsed once more in 2017 when Sinn Féin withdrew. Identity politics in Northern Ireland and the impact of Brexit on the Northern Ireland question are also discussed.

British government policy post 1974: learning slowly between Sunningdales?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamonn O’Kane
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
British Politics ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Acceptable Solution ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
British Policy ◽  
Irish Question ◽  
The Impact

This chapter seeks to examine the impact and legacy of the failed Sunningdale initiative on British policy in Northern Ireland. At a superficial level British policy towards the problem oscillated markedly in the 25 years between the Sunningdale and Belfast/Good Friday Agreements. The approach of seeking to build a power-sharing devolved government with a strong Irish dimension proved unattainable in 1974. Over the subsequent years the British appeared to toy with: Irish unity; full integration of Northern Ireland into the United Kingdom; devolution without an Irish dimension (or indeed much power to share); and a variant of joint authority with the Irish government without power-sharing in Northern Ireland, before returning successfully to the Sunningdale model in the late 1990s. This chapter will question the reasons for this oscillating approach. Was it a result of a disillusion with Sunnningdale amongst British policy-makers; a reflection of their pragmatism; a desire to insulate wider British politics from the Irish question; or an indication of a lack of ideological commitment and interest in Northern Ireland in wider British political circles? Drawing on the available archival sources, and interview data from British policymakers, the chapter will argue that it was not slow learning that delayed the ‘return’ to Sunningdale for the British, but the realities of events on the ground in Northern Ireland and the political attitudes of those involved in the conflict. The British were key players in this conflict but their ability to control events and outcomes was severely limited. Sunningdale represented what the British believed would be the most acceptable solution to the problem in 1973, but the conditions were not conducive for almost a quarter of a century.

Sunningdale and the limits of ‘rejectionist’ Unionism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Aveyard ◽  
Shaun McDaid
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Majority Rule ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
Small Minority ◽  
The Impact

This chapter analyses the impact of the Sunningdale Agreement and its aftermath on unionist politics in Northern Ireland. It will begin by placing divisions within the unionist bloc, many of which preceded Sunningdale, in context. It will outline how divisions on power-sharing crystalized between the publication of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals in March 1973 and the collapse of the power-sharing executive at the hands of the Ulster Workers’ Council (UWC) in May 1974. It will consider how opposition to Sunningdale created short-lived unity among disparate strands of unionism, which disintegrated once the executive collapsed. Drawing extensively from archival evidence, it will demonstrate how, after 1974, unionists experienced a prolonged limitation of their capacity to influence policy as British governments refused to countenance a return of devolution without nationalist involvement. This cemented a lasting cleavage within unionism between a small minority prepared to countenance power-sharing and the considerable majority that demanded a return to majority rule. Both desired devolution, but the latter, paradoxically, pursued policies that ultimately reinforced direct rule. The consistency of the British government’s stance on nationalist involvement in any devolved settlement and the absence of a local administration that unionists could focus their protests against ensured that the 1974 UWC strike was the zenith of rejectionist unionism. This combination of factors imposed clear limits on unionist political influence in subsequent years.

Interculturalism and the Acceptance of Minority Groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maykel Verkuyten ◽  
Kumar Yogeeswaran
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Situational Effect

Abstract. Multiculturalism has been criticized and rejected by an increasing number of politicians, and social psychological research has shown that it can lead to outgroup stereotyping, essentialist thinking, and negative attitudes. Interculturalism has been proposed as an alternative diversity ideology, but there is almost no systematic empirical evidence about the impact of interculturalism on the acceptance of migrants and minority groups. Using data from a survey experiment conducted in the Netherlands, we examined the situational effect of promoting interculturalism on acceptance. The results show that for liberals, but not for conservatives, interculturalism leads to more positive attitudes toward immigrant-origin groups and increased willingness to engage in contact, relative to multiculturalism.

Should Attitudinal Views toward Innovation Development Play a Role in Policy in Peripheral EU Regions?: New Evidence from Vouchers Program in Northern Ireland

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Sean M. McDonald ◽  
Remi C. Claire ◽  
Alastair H. McPherson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Regional Economic Development ◽  
Innovation Development ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Eu Regions ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Evidence

The impact and effectiveness of policies to support collaboration for Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation is critical to determining the success of regional economic development. (O’Kane, 2008) The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the level of success of the Innovation Vouchers Program operated by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) from 2009 to 2013 and address if attitudinal views towards innovation development should play in a role in future policy design in peripheral EU regions. 

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