Crisis of Consociational Democracy in Contemporary Northern Ireland

Datos Bibliográficos

ID17545217
AutoresMikhail V Grabevnik (0000-0002-3321-7519, Perm State University, 15, Bukireva Str., Perm, 614990, Russian Federation., autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Volumen70
Número4
Páginas39-49
Fecha de publicación2026-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaWorld Economy and International Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0131-2227 • E-ISSN: 2782-4330
EditorialPrimakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.20542/0131-2227-2026-70-4-39-49
OpenAlexW7154446274
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas28

The article is devoted to the contemporary crisis of the consociational democracy model in Northern Ireland in 2020s. The study is conducted using qualitative logic, statistical and sociological data. The research subject is the crisis of consociational model of power sharing in contemporary Northern Ireland. By means of qualitative analytical techniques, the author demonstrates the key institutional contradictions and limitations of the regional political system. Firstly, weak adaptation and reception of the institutional system (power-sharing model) to structural and demographical changes in the regional community is characterized. The region is witnessing the formation and development of a plural and fragmented community that does not fit into binomial patterns (Catholic/Republican and Protestant/Unionist). Northern Ireland today is broader and more diverse than its traditional communities are, and the political system is proving unsuitable for this new configuration. Pluralism in the public and cultural space thus clashes with exclusivity and discrimination in the political sphere. Secondly, institutional limits of the consociational democracy model are underlined: the dysfunctional nature of the mutual veto system; restrictions on the democratic participation of the broader population in the political process in Northern Ireland. The expression of uncontrolled (albeit institutionalized) veto undermines the democratic process and the stability of the regional political system. Thirdly, the author demonstrates the features of the bipolar party system erosion in the region and the formation of third party groups, which means political fragmentation trend in recent electoral cycles. Parallel to the consolidation of the Sinn Fein’s dominant role (and the political stagnation of the Unionists), third parties are gaining electoral and political strength, the most prominent of which is the Northern Ireland Alliance Party. This gives arguments for speaking, at a minimum, of a diffuse bipolar party system that will never be the same again, and, at a maximum, of a stable three-party system or a system of moderate pluralism. The article is structured as follows. First, a description of the research problem is presented. Main content consists of three parts: demographic changes and structural challenges, fragmentation of regional party system, and limits to the regional political management. The conclusion contains analytical proposals on the future of the power-sharing system in Northern Ireland

Democracy · Democratic consolidation · Pluralism (philosophy) · Political system · Politics · Polity · Population · Veto · Irish and British Studies · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Russia