The Europeanization Of Party Politics In Ireland North And South

Ireland’s relationship with the European Union has been determined by the behaviour, actions and discourse of political parties. This book examines this impact through an in-depth analysis of the Europeanization of party politics in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. First, it presents original research on cross-cutting issues that have featured in political debates about European integration, including referendum campaigns on EU treaties, Irish neutrality and party policy positions on the EU. Secondly, it is the first book of its kind to examine in detail how each of the main parties on the island of Ireland has adapted to EU membership. In doing so it both tests the thesis of ‘Europeanization’ and deepens understanding of the impact that EU membership can have on national and sub-national party politics. What this study reveals is that, while Europeanization is clearly evident in all parties in Ireland, including those most critical of European integration, its influence has been strictly curtailed. We argue that the effects of Europeanization in Irish party politics have been limited by enduring resistance to – and conditions placed upon – EU influence in particular policy areas, the importance of pragmatism and (sub-)national priorities in shaping parties’ approaches to European integration and the fact that engagement with the EU continues to be a predominantly elite-led process. This book was published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

Ireland’s relationship with the European Union has been determined by the behaviour, actions and discourse of political parties. This book examines this impact through an in-depth analysis of the Europeanization of party politics in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. First, it presents original research on cross-cutting issues that have featured in political debates about European integration, including referendum campaigns on EU treaties, Irish neutrality and party policy positions on the EU. Secondly, it is the first book of its kind to examine in detail how each of the main parties on the island of Ireland has adapted to EU membership. In doing so it both tests the thesis of ‘Europeanization’ and deepens understanding of the impact that EU membership can have on national and sub-national party politics. What this study reveals is that, while Europeanization is clearly evident in all parties in Ireland, including those most critical of European integration, its influence has been strictly curtailed. We argue that the effects of Europeanization in Irish party politics have been limited by enduring resistance to – and conditions placed upon – EU influence in particular policy areas, the importance of pragmatism and (sub-)national priorities in shaping parties’ approaches to European integration and the fact that engagement with the EU continues to be a predominantly elite-led process. This book was published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

Politics in Ireland is the first major text to provide an accessible and systematic analysis of the politics of Ireland: North as well as South. With the development of a new Northern Irish political system and increasing links across the island, the authors argue that the time is ripe to study together the two polities, which share so much of a common history but which have had very different evolutions through the 20th century. Drawing upon an exceptionally wide range of sources and their own original research, the authors deploy a thematic approach to the study of political institutions, political behaviour and public policy in both the Republic and Northern Ireland in order to produce a detailed, but highly readable, assessment of governance and politics in both political systems. This approach enables them both to outline the differences and similarities between the polities and to explain how they relate to the wider world, in particular to the UK and to Europe.

This book gathers the expertise of those researching women and politics in Ireland - both North and South - into a single, comprehensive and accessible textbook on the topic. Contributors are drawn from both academic and activist arenas to bring a multidisciplinary approach to the subject. Contesting Politics examines the central issues of women and the political parties and representation, the relationship between the women's movement and community-based women's groups in Ireland, and women's participation in public bodies and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. The text will be invaluable in women's studies and Irish studies courses as well as within political science.

This comparative work examines the political and social context of interest groups in Malta and Ireland, two small island states at the periphery of an integrated continent. The author explores the impact of the European Union on their civil society's organizations and their gradual transformation at differing speeds and logics of Europeanization.

Scholars across the humanities and social sciences are increasingly examining the importance of European integration and Europeanisation to changing notions of local, regional, national and supranational identity in Europe. As part of this interest, anthropologists, historians, sociologists, political scientists and others have paid particular attention to the roles which EU policies and initiatives have played in the construction of local, regional and national identity in Europe, and in the reframing of various forms of culture. This volume provides the first multidisciplinary look at the impact of European integration and Europeanisation on changing culture and identity in one member state of the EU, namely Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and the first such look at the ways in which the cultures and identities of a member state have had an impact on various versions of ‘Europe’, in and outside of the EU.

Since the Treaty of the European Union was ratified in 1993, the European Union has become an important factor in an ever-increasing number of regimes of pooled sovereignty. This Handbook seeks to present a valuable guide to this new and unique system in the twenty-first century, allowing readers to obtain a better understanding of the emerging multilevel European governance system that links national polities to Europe and the global community. Adopting a pan-European approach, this Handbook brings together the work of leading international academics to cover a wide range of topics such as: the historical and theoretical background the political systems and institutions of both the EU and its individual member nations political parties and party systems political elites civil society and social movements in European politics the political economy of Europe public administration and policy-making external policies of the EU. This is an invaluable and comprehensive resource for students, scholars, researchers and practitioners of the European Union, European politics and comparative politics.