Politics in Ireland: Convergence and Divergence in a Two-Polity Island

by Maura Adshead, Jonathon Tonge

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403989703
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/01/2009
Series:	Comparative Government and Politics , #18
Edition description:	2009
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

MAURA ADSHEAD is Senior Lecturer and Public Administration in Politics in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Unviersity of Limerick, Ireland. She is author of Developing European Regions? (2002) and co-editor of Public Administration and Public Policy in Ireland: Theory and Methods (2003) and Contesting the State: Lessons from the Irish Case (2008).

JONATHAN TONGE is Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool, UK. He is author of over 50 books, chapters and articles on British and Northern Irish politics. Recent books include Irish Protestant Identities (2008 co-edited), Northern Ireland (2006) and Sinn Fein and the SDLP (2005 with Gerry Murray).
MAURA ADSHEAD is Senior Lecturer and Public Administration in Politics in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Unviersity of Limerick, Ireland. She is author of Developing European Regions? (2002) and co-editor of Public Administration and Public Policy in Ireland: Theory and Methods (2003) and Contesting the State: Lessons from the Irish Case (2008).

JONATHAN TONGE is Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool, UK. He is author of over 50 books, chapters and articles on British and Northern Irish politics. Recent books include Irish Protestant Identities (2008 co-edited), Northern Ireland (2006) and Sinn Fein and the SDLP (2005 with Gerry Murray).

Table of Contents

Introduction: Political Foundations of Irish Politics
PART I: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
The Executive
The Legislature
The Bureaucracy
The Judiciary
PART II: POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR
Political Parties and the Party System
Electoral System and Voting Behaviour
Civil Society, Interest Groups and Pressure Politics
Political Culture
PARTIII: PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
Territorial Administration and Sub-National Government
Economic Management
Social Policy and the Welfare State
Ireland in the EU
Conclusions: Towards a New Ireland?

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A wide-ranging survey whose distinctive value lies in an innovative, systematic and timely comparison of the political institutions and cultures of Northern Ireland and the Republic.' – J. Joseph Lee, Glucksman Professor of Irish Studies, New York University

'Lucid, well-organized and packed with information, this book offers an impressively thorough analysis of Irish politics, North and South. An extremely valuable resource.' – Richard English, Professor of Politics, Queen's University, Belfast