Bill Kissane

Arend Lijphart and the Transformation of Irish Democracy

This article assesses the extent to which institutional change has produced a consensus democracy in the Republic of Ireland. It measures this change over time, examining each of the variables Lijphart associates with the distinction between majoritarian and consensus democracy. We show that the Irish system is moving away from its Westminster roots, but some variables on the executive–parties dimension have hardly changed at all. Hence, we relate the Irish preference for ‘divided power’ forms of consensus democracy to the strong British imprint on the states core legislative institutions.

Nineteenth‐century nationalism in Finland and Ireland: A comparative analysis

This article compares the development of nationalism in nineteenth and early twentieth‐century Finland and Ireland. It attempts to explain why nationalism in Finland conformed to the ‘civic’ variant of nationalism found in Western Europe, where two or more ethnic groups were united in a common state, whereas Irish nationalism conformed to an Eastern or ‘ethnic’ pattern, where the rise of nationalism exacerbated relations between ethnic groups and led to the break‐up of the existing state. The nature of core‐periphery relations, the position of the dominant minority in the class structure, and the pattern of democratization, are all examined as factors which explain the differences between the two cases. While it is common to attribute the character of nationalism in any particular country to one overarching factor, here it is argued that it is only as a combination of these factors that the differences between the two cases can be understood.

The not-so-amazing case of Irish democracy

Abstract Irish democracy is usually considered an exception to general theories of the emergence and stabilisation of democracy in the first world. Indeed it is normally studied in a Third World post‐colonial context and a strong emphasis is placed on the role of political culture. Here I criticise explanations which treat political culture as an independent variable and contrast this approach with theories that stress the emergence of a plural society in Ireland suggesting that they provide an alternative that is more consistent with Irelands experience as ‘a first world’ colony.

Democratization, State Formation, and Civil War in Finland and Ireland A Reflection on the Democratic Peace Hypothesis

In both Finland and Ireland, democracy was the product of long-term processes of development, and the question is why the presence of democratic norms and institutions did not prevent their civil wars. Arguably both systems were destabilized by the delay between the first democratic elections and the achievement of legislative independence, when crises over who should inherit the empires’ legislative power became interlinked with the absence of coercive institutions.

Éamon de Valéra and the Survival of Democracy in Inter-War Ireland

This article explores how, in the wake of civil war and continued instability, Éamon de Valéra attempted to stabilize parliamentary democracy in Ireland through the introduction of a new constitution in 1937. This constitution has been seen as a product of his uniquely conservative personality, but Irish constitutional developments between the wars reflected the tensions of an era in which liberal constitutionalism proved unable to meet the challenges posed to it. This article constitutes an attempt to put the constitution into its appropriate European context.

Majority rule and the stabilisation of democracy in the Irish free state

Abstract This article analyses the relationship between majority rule and the stabilisation of democracy in the Irish Free State 1922–1937. It questions the conventional equation of single‐party government and a concentrated party system with democratic stability. Rather it argues the while single‐party government was a source of stability, a bi‐polar pattern of party competition was a source of instability. Multi‐party competition under STV was conducive to stabilisation but coalition governments did not emerge because of the majoritarian preferences of the civil war parties. The efficacy of majority rule in resolving the Treaty issue is related to (a) the prior common ground existing between the two sides and, (b) the number of political issues at stake in the Free State.

Ideas in Conflict: The Nationalism Literature and the Comparative Study of Civil War

The comparative study of civil war has recently gone through a “structural turn,” towards large-n quantitative studies that explain the variation in the incidence of civil wars in terms of structural factors. The alternatives have been a return to case studies and a constructivist critique that emphasizes the role of ideas in conflict. While there is no a priori reason to reconcile these approaches, it remains a practical task for those who want to understand how a given social situation escalates into civil war. After reviewing the two poles in the debate, we mine the literature on nationalism for insights into this issue.

Civil society under strain: Intermediary organisations and the Irish civil war

Abstract A strong civil society is often considered an essential component of a democratic system. More particularly, it is argued that civil society can play an important role in mediating internal conflicts. While there are many normative endorsements of the idea of civil society in the democratisation literature, the ability of civil society organisations to mediate serious political conflicts effectively is rarely examined empirically. This article examines the role of civil society in the Irish civil war. It shows that civil society organisations mobilised opinion in opposition to the war, but proved incapable of influencing the conflict in any way. The Irish case does not reinforce current optimism about the role civil society can play in the resolution of conflicts.

The re‐equilibration of democracy in inter‐war Ireland

This article examines the process of democratic stabilization in inter‐war Ireland. The Irish case is a classic example of what Linz calls re‐equilibration. Re‐equilibration is a political process that, following a crisis which has seriously endangered democratic institutions, results in their continued existence at the same or higher levels of effectiveness and legitimacy. The contention of the article is that the Fianna Fail partys transformation of the democratic institutions of the Irish Free State in the 1930s constituted a case of democratic re‐equilibration, whereby the institutions of independent Ireland were given a greater degree of effectiveness and legitimacy. Indeed, since the main Irish parties had only recently been involved in a civil war, the Irish example could well be the classic case of re‐equilibration this century. The analysis of democratic re‐equilibration between 1922 and 1937 focuses on the Fianna Fail partys transformation from being a semi‐loyal opposition party to being a pa...

Voluntarist democratic theory and the origins of the Irish civil war

This article examines elite behaviour and the origins of the Irish Civil War by looking at the efforts of the Irish political elite to avert civil war in the period between the signing of the Anglo‐Irish Treaty in December 1921 and the outbreak of civil war the following June. It tests a central assumption of contemporary democratic theory: that political elites can always have a decisive impact of the fate of transitional regimes. More particularly it focuses on the making and unmaking of the Collins‐de Valera electoral pact and explains why tactics that have been shown to be effective ways of preventing conflict and stabilising democratic regimes, elsewhere, failed to prevent the outbreak of civil war in the Irish case.