Pub Date : 2022-03-29DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2057765
A. Edwards
{"title":"Deniable Contact: Back Channel Negotiation in Northern Ireland","authors":"A. Edwards","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2057765","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2057765","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47248251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-29DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2045142
L. Bardi
ABSTRACT Peter Mair’s final contribution to political science was an indictment of the state of democracy based on his career-long study of party and party system adaptation in comparative contexts, as well as on an analysis and reflection on the nature and causes of the tension between responsiveness and responsibility for party government. The essays in this issue demonstrate that the concerns that underpinned Peter Mair’s work are still central to the debate on political parties and party-based democracy. Together they reflect the enduring centrality of Mair’s professional scholarship to the study of party politics in Western Europe. The very cumulative character of this special issue helps identify and highlight the central analytic and theoretical themes of his work. The line of research and theoretical reflection Peter Mair started over four decades ago, beginning with his studies on party organization, continues in the works of his contemporaries and students. The essays in this collection are an unmistakable proof of the endurance of his legacy.
{"title":"Democracy in the ‘Void’: Peter Mair and party politics","authors":"L. Bardi","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2045142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2045142","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Peter Mair’s final contribution to political science was an indictment of the state of democracy based on his career-long study of party and party system adaptation in comparative contexts, as well as on an analysis and reflection on the nature and causes of the tension between responsiveness and responsibility for party government. The essays in this issue demonstrate that the concerns that underpinned Peter Mair’s work are still central to the debate on political parties and party-based democracy. Together they reflect the enduring centrality of Mair’s professional scholarship to the study of party politics in Western Europe. The very cumulative character of this special issue helps identify and highlight the central analytic and theoretical themes of his work. The line of research and theoretical reflection Peter Mair started over four decades ago, beginning with his studies on party organization, continues in the works of his contemporaries and students. The essays in this collection are an unmistakable proof of the endurance of his legacy.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48144952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-15DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2049998
Paul Dixon
{"title":"Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Party and the Northern Ireland Conflict, 1975–1990","authors":"Paul Dixon","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2049998","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2049998","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45906489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-11DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2045419
D. Farrell, Luke Field
ABSTRACT In the opening lines of Ruling the Void Peter Mair states that ‘[t]he age of party democracy has passed’. In his eyes political parties are failing and with them democracy itself. This paper addresses Mair’s concerns about the state of democracy. We review the latest evidence on how democracies have been innovating over the past twenty years or more, with particular attention to reforms that seek to bring citizens into the heart of discussions about constitutional and institutional reforms and significant policy issues. We show how deliberative mini-publics are becoming a more common feature of democratic government today, and, in some instances, how they are being embedded into the democratic system. We assess the implications for the state of state of democratic government today.
{"title":"The growing prominence of deliberative mini-publics and their impact on democratic government","authors":"D. Farrell, Luke Field","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2045419","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2045419","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In the opening lines of Ruling the Void Peter Mair states that ‘[t]he age of party democracy has passed’. In his eyes political parties are failing and with them democracy itself. This paper addresses Mair’s concerns about the state of democracy. We review the latest evidence on how democracies have been innovating over the past twenty years or more, with particular attention to reforms that seek to bring citizens into the heart of discussions about constitutional and institutional reforms and significant policy issues. We show how deliberative mini-publics are becoming a more common feature of democratic government today, and, in some instances, how they are being embedded into the democratic system. We assess the implications for the state of state of democratic government today.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42730148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-09DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2043081
Nicole Bolleyer
ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with one important dimension of intra-organizational hierarchy that has to date received only little attention in cross-national party research, although its relevance has grown in light of both the increasing empowerment of rank-and-file members and the growing inclusiveness of contemporary party organizations: the range of monitoring and disciplinary mechanisms available to parties to manage internal differences and dissent essential to assure the day-to-day functioning of complex organizations. Based on the distinction between ‘organizational control’ and ‘leadership power’ that can be exercised through these mechanisms, this paper explores how the availability and nature of such mechanisms in party statutes is shaped by differences in ideology on the party level and the legal regulation of intra-party conflict regulation on the system level. Patterns are examined with regard to state-wide parties in Germany and Spain, two countries that regulate intra-party conflict legally, and the UK and Ireland, two countries that do not.
{"title":"Party conflict regulation and intra-party hierarchy in contemporary party organization","authors":"Nicole Bolleyer","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2043081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2043081","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with one important dimension of intra-organizational hierarchy that has to date received only little attention in cross-national party research, although its relevance has grown in light of both the increasing empowerment of rank-and-file members and the growing inclusiveness of contemporary party organizations: the range of monitoring and disciplinary mechanisms available to parties to manage internal differences and dissent essential to assure the day-to-day functioning of complex organizations. Based on the distinction between ‘organizational control’ and ‘leadership power’ that can be exercised through these mechanisms, this paper explores how the availability and nature of such mechanisms in party statutes is shaped by differences in ideology on the party level and the legal regulation of intra-party conflict regulation on the system level. Patterns are examined with regard to state-wide parties in Germany and Spain, two countries that regulate intra-party conflict legally, and the UK and Ireland, two countries that do not.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48414026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-09DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2050619
Luke Field
Chapter 1. The road to the election – Gary Murphy This chapter outlines the background to the election. Starting by briefly sketching the history of the Irish party system, it surveys the main developments of the period 2016–20, covering the lifetime of the Fine Gaelled minority government that had a confidence and supply relationship with the second largest party, Fianna Fáil. These four years saw sustained economic growth and social reform, notably the 2018 referendum removing constitutional restrictions on the provision of abortion, but there were persisting problems in the areas of housing and health. Two of the country’s three main parties changed leaders during this period. When the government was formed many expected it to last only a matter of months but, despite occasional alarms, its parliamentary support held up until early 2020.
{"title":"How Ireland voted 2020: the end of an era","authors":"Luke Field","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2050619","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2050619","url":null,"abstract":"Chapter 1. The road to the election – Gary Murphy This chapter outlines the background to the election. Starting by briefly sketching the history of the Irish party system, it surveys the main developments of the period 2016–20, covering the lifetime of the Fine Gaelled minority government that had a confidence and supply relationship with the second largest party, Fianna Fáil. These four years saw sustained economic growth and social reform, notably the 2018 referendum removing constitutional restrictions on the provision of abortion, but there were persisting problems in the areas of housing and health. Two of the country’s three main parties changed leaders during this period. When the government was formed many expected it to last only a matter of months but, despite occasional alarms, its parliamentary support held up until early 2020.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42944644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-09DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2045143
P. Kopecký, Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, M. Spirova
ABSTRACT The contemporary literature on political parties has identified their gradual but consistent shift away from civil society and towards the state. As parties are becoming ever increasingly dependent on state resources and exclusively interested in governing, as Mair (Ruling the void: The hollowing of western democracy [Verso Books, 2013]) suggested, and patronage is a fundamental to that relationship, the degree and modes of party patronage becomes pivotal to understanding their performance, and the ways they organize and govern. In this paper we argue that party patronage is likely to be structured by the nature of political competition and explore the effects of political polarization, which is a feature of political competition relatively independent from the precise format of a party system, on patronage practices. We advance a theoretical argument which systematically links different types of political polarization with different patterns of party patronage, arguing that extreme polarization incentivizes political parties to develop heavily partisan strategies of party patronage which, in turn, further fuel political polarization. Thus, we also contribute to burgeoning literature on political polarization and its negative effects on the functioning of both political parties and overall political systems.
{"title":"(Extreme) political polarization and party patronage","authors":"P. Kopecký, Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, M. Spirova","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2045143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2045143","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The contemporary literature on political parties has identified their gradual but consistent shift away from civil society and towards the state. As parties are becoming ever increasingly dependent on state resources and exclusively interested in governing, as Mair (Ruling the void: The hollowing of western democracy [Verso Books, 2013]) suggested, and patronage is a fundamental to that relationship, the degree and modes of party patronage becomes pivotal to understanding their performance, and the ways they organize and govern. In this paper we argue that party patronage is likely to be structured by the nature of political competition and explore the effects of political polarization, which is a feature of political competition relatively independent from the precise format of a party system, on patronage practices. We advance a theoretical argument which systematically links different types of political polarization with different patterns of party patronage, arguing that extreme polarization incentivizes political parties to develop heavily partisan strategies of party patronage which, in turn, further fuel political polarization. Thus, we also contribute to burgeoning literature on political polarization and its negative effects on the functioning of both political parties and overall political systems.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47366525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-08DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2036039
C. Green-Pedersen, Conor Little
ABSTRACT The Irish party system has been exceptional both for the weakness of its left-right conflict and for its long-run stability. How then can party competition on policy, and particularly competition between the main parties, be characterised? This study examines the Irish party system from an issue competition perspective, examining the party system agenda and asking whether Irish party competition is marked by differences in issue focus. New data from Irish party manifestos (1981–2020) coded within the framework of the Comparative Agendas Project show that rather than competing by focusing on different issues, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s issue focus is very similar and has moved in parallel over time. Nor is a distinct focus on new issues evident in Sinn Féin’s offering as they have emerged as a major party. Moreover, it finds that ‘new politics’ issues have remained marginal and it examines how this has occurred using the ‘crucial case’ of environmental policy. While differences in issue focus do not help us to distinguish the main parties, the politics of competence continues to have an important role and positional politics may be coming to the fore.
{"title":"The issue content of party politics in Ireland: a new perspective on the Irish party system and its development","authors":"C. Green-Pedersen, Conor Little","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2036039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2036039","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The Irish party system has been exceptional both for the weakness of its left-right conflict and for its long-run stability. How then can party competition on policy, and particularly competition between the main parties, be characterised? This study examines the Irish party system from an issue competition perspective, examining the party system agenda and asking whether Irish party competition is marked by differences in issue focus. New data from Irish party manifestos (1981–2020) coded within the framework of the Comparative Agendas Project show that rather than competing by focusing on different issues, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s issue focus is very similar and has moved in parallel over time. Nor is a distinct focus on new issues evident in Sinn Féin’s offering as they have emerged as a major party. Moreover, it finds that ‘new politics’ issues have remained marginal and it examines how this has occurred using the ‘crucial case’ of environmental policy. While differences in issue focus do not help us to distinguish the main parties, the politics of competence continues to have an important role and positional politics may be coming to the fore.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45745319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-07DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2043083
Z. Enyedi, F. Bértoa
ABSTRACT Arguably, the most fundamental question one can ask about a party system is whether it is bipolar or not. Based on theoretical conjectures and on tendencies one observed during the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as reflecting the position of the academic community at the time (e.g. [Bale, T. (2003). Cinderella and Her ugly sisters: The mainstream and extreme right in Europe's bipolarising party systems. West European Politics, 26(3), 67–90; Müller, W., & Fallend, F. (2004). Changing patterns of party competition in Austria: From multipolar to bipolar system. West European Politics, 27(5), 801–835]), Peter Mair had a clear prediction: the future of party politics would be bipolar. Using the Who Governs Europe dataset [Casal Bértoa, F., & Enyedi, Z. (2021a). Party system closure: Party alliances, government alternatives, and democracy in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press], the article examines the validity of Mair's predictions. Notwithstanding certain exceptions (e.g. Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Serbia), the article demonstrates that the tendency towards increasingly bipolarised party politics has failed to materialise. Next to the description of empirical patterns the article provides suggestions on how to improve our conceptual apparatus of party system analysis.
{"title":"The future is not what it used to be: the failure of bipolarisation","authors":"Z. Enyedi, F. Bértoa","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2043083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2043083","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Arguably, the most fundamental question one can ask about a party system is whether it is bipolar or not. Based on theoretical conjectures and on tendencies one observed during the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as reflecting the position of the academic community at the time (e.g. [Bale, T. (2003). Cinderella and Her ugly sisters: The mainstream and extreme right in Europe's bipolarising party systems. West European Politics, 26(3), 67–90; Müller, W., & Fallend, F. (2004). Changing patterns of party competition in Austria: From multipolar to bipolar system. West European Politics, 27(5), 801–835]), Peter Mair had a clear prediction: the future of party politics would be bipolar. Using the Who Governs Europe dataset [Casal Bértoa, F., & Enyedi, Z. (2021a). Party system closure: Party alliances, government alternatives, and democracy in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press], the article examines the validity of Mair's predictions. Notwithstanding certain exceptions (e.g. Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Serbia), the article demonstrates that the tendency towards increasingly bipolarised party politics has failed to materialise. Next to the description of empirical patterns the article provides suggestions on how to improve our conceptual apparatus of party system analysis.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44506101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-04DOI: 10.1080/07907184.2022.2044313
M. Murphy, M. McGann
ABSTRACT Public employment services (PES) have undergone significant change since 2011, reshaping the roles of the market, state, and community sector within Ireland’s mixed economy of welfare. The post-crisis years saw the replacement of FÁS with a new network of one-stop-shop Intreo activation services, and the procurement of new employment services for the long-term unemployed through competitive tendering and Payment-by-Results. This process of marketisation is now being extended to other PES currently delivered by community organisations under block grants, such as Local Employment Services and Job Clubs. We position Ireland’s PES landscape as a strategic action field wherein various providers compete with one another for position, power and resources during episodes of contention. Applying this lens to the ongoing reform of activation policy and PES institutions, the paper considers how the recent trajectory of PES marketisation has remained politically contentious. It examines the strategies of various providers and policy actors in shaping the politics of reform, focusing especially on the position of community organisations within the field and the degree to which they have been able to strategically mobilise against marketisation. Lessons are drawn about the nature of Irish politics and policy reform.
{"title":"A period of contention? The politics of post-crisis activation reform and the creeping marketisation of public employment services","authors":"M. Murphy, M. McGann","doi":"10.1080/07907184.2022.2044313","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2022.2044313","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Public employment services (PES) have undergone significant change since 2011, reshaping the roles of the market, state, and community sector within Ireland’s mixed economy of welfare. The post-crisis years saw the replacement of FÁS with a new network of one-stop-shop Intreo activation services, and the procurement of new employment services for the long-term unemployed through competitive tendering and Payment-by-Results. This process of marketisation is now being extended to other PES currently delivered by community organisations under block grants, such as Local Employment Services and Job Clubs. We position Ireland’s PES landscape as a strategic action field wherein various providers compete with one another for position, power and resources during episodes of contention. Applying this lens to the ongoing reform of activation policy and PES institutions, the paper considers how the recent trajectory of PES marketisation has remained politically contentious. It examines the strategies of various providers and policy actors in shaping the politics of reform, focusing especially on the position of community organisations within the field and the degree to which they have been able to strategically mobilise against marketisation. Lessons are drawn about the nature of Irish politics and policy reform.","PeriodicalId":45746,"journal":{"name":"Irish Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42810871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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