The Political Consequences of the Electoral System in Northern Ireland
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6074792 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J Coakley (0000-0003-1442-9169) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 253-284 |
| Publication date | 2009-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Irish Political Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0790-7184 • E-ISSN: 1743-9078 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07907180903075702 |
| OpenAlex | W2000443447 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 25 |
| References cited | 49 |
The role of electoral law in assisting political accommodation in divided societies has been the subject of vigorous recent debate, with advocates of consociational government arguing for proportional representation and proponents of inter‐communal bridge building defending the merits of the alternative vote system. This article explores the implications of electoral law in Northern Ireland for the shape of the party system there, and thus for an important ingredient in the pursuit of a settlement. It assesses the political consequences of the plurality system (from 1929 to 1969) and of the single transferable vote system of proportional representation (since 1973) by documenting the party political consequences of these two systems, and by simulating the probable effects of other electoral systems during these two periods. It concludes that electoral law has indeed had a major impact on the shape of the party system, with the introduction of proportional representation hastening the demise of the old two‐party system, replacing it essentially by a multi‐party, two‐bloc system. But in this the electoral system is just one instrument in an institutional toolkit that forms part of an arena of dispute between consociational and ‘Westminster’ models of government
Accommodation · Demise · Democracy · Electoral geography · Electoral system · Government (linguistics · Law and economics · Multi-party system · Political economy · Political science · Political system · Politics · Proportional representation · Representation (politics · Sociology · Subject (documents · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Irish and British Studies · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Law · Public Administration
Confederal and Consociational Futures
The Anglo-Irish Agreement, 1985
The Good Friday Agreement, 1998
The Good Friday Agreement, 1998
Conclusion
Note on Documents
“No. Please Understand”
The Making, Meaning(s), and Tasks of the 1998 Agreement
A Tract of Time between War and Peace
Introduction
An Experiment in Coercive Consociation
Conceptual Conspectus
The Downing Street Declaration and Framework Documents, 1993–1995
The Sunningdale Agreement, 1973
The Long Negotiation
Terminology
Do lower preference transfers assist moderate political parties in deeply divided societies? Evidence from local elections in Northern Ireland since 1973
Change beneath the surface
A Treatise on Northern Ireland, Volume III
Power-Sharing Executives
Negotiating a Settlement in Northern Ireland, 1969-2019
Reply to ‘The politics of conflict
Are Segmental Parties Bad for Women? Rethinking the Challenges of Representation in Consociational Power-Sharing
Constructing a shared public identity in ethno nationally divided societies
The Ethnic Implications of Preferential Voting
Ireland
Conclusion
Integration and division
Constitutional Design
Democracy in Plural Societies
The Northern Ireland Agreement
Power shared after the deaths of thousands
A Democratic South Africa
The Alternative Vote System In Fiji
The alternative vote and interethnic moderation
The merits of Neo-Downsian modeling of the alternative vote
Again on Discrimination in the North of Ireland
Where have all the parties gone? Fraenkel and Grofman on the alternative vote – yet again
A Neo-Downsian Model of the Alternative Vote as a Mechanism for Mitigating Ethnic Conflict in Plural Societies
The Northern Ireland parliamentary electoral system
The Government of Northern Ireland
The Government Of Northern Ireland
The Politics of Antagonism
Catholic Grievances
Ethnic groups in conflict
The Alternative Vote and the 1987 General Election
Representation in Plural Societies
Which Electoral Formula Is the Most Proportional? A New Look with New Evidence
The Electoral System
How Britain would have voted under Alternative Electoral Systems in 1992
Ethnic competition and the logic of party system transformation
Effective” Number of Parties
Does the Alternative Vote Foster Moderation in Ethnically Divided Societies
The Failure of the Alternative Vote as a Tool for Ethnic Moderation in Fiji
Strategy Takes a Holiday
Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems
Explaining the Northern Ireland Agreement
The alternative vote
The Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2007
The Northern Ireland Problem. A Study in Group Relations
Discrimination in Northern Ireland
Explaining Violence in Northern Ireland
Catholic Grievances, Catholic Nationalism
Catholic Grievances in Northern Ireland
Catholic Grievances and Violence in Northern Ireland
Catholic Grievances, Catholic Nationalism and Violence in Northern Ireland during the Civil Rights Period
Proportionality, disproportionality and electoral systems
Northern Ireland and the politics of reconciliation
The Protection of Minorities by the Electoral System
The Northern Ireland Problem. A Study in Group Relations
| Unique citing works | 25 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,67 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2026 (16) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 25 |