Abstract
This article provides a comparative and longitudinal analysis of the policy selection methods adopted by Northern Ireland’s five main parties. Drawing on data from multiple sources, it sheds light on an important element of intra-party democracy and party organisation in the region. Accounting for instances of reform, this article reveals the extent to which the parties have altered their procedures following the introduction of devolved power-sharing in 1998. Policy development is revealed to be primarily top-down in nature, with a clear professionalisation of the process in recent times. In a concurrent development, parties have also adopted a more proactive and, typically, consultative approach to policy development, affording ordinary members greater opportunities to register their views. However, such consultation also privileges several actors outside the parties’ boundaries, a finding which raises questions concerning both their organisational integrity and the nature and meaning of conventional party membership in Northern Ireland.
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Notes
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The survey was conducted in 2011 as part of the UK module of the Comparative Candidate Survey project. The combined response rate for the five parties in this study was 35.4 per cent. For further information see: http://ls-ewdsdnn.ces.strath.ac.uk/ukec/2011.aspx.
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Other accounts of the internal dynamics of the DUP have shown Special Advisors to play an active and influential (and primarily informal) role in the party’s policy-making process (see Tonge et al. 2014). These actors are employed as aides to DUP ministers and several former advisors have moved directly into electoral politics. They could, therefore, be justifiably regarded as another strand of the DUP parliamentary party.
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At the time of the survey, Alliance’s parliamentary ‘team’ consisted of just one MP.
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The running order of conference, including the motions to be debated, is determined by the party executive (Ard Chomhairle).
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Specially convened conferences have been called to consider the party’s support of the Good Friday Agreement (May 1998) and Policing and Justice in Northern Ireland (January 2007).
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Sinn Féin interviewees explained that focus groups are not conducted for purely policy development purposes. Focus groups are, however, used by the party’s ‘Elections Department’ during campaigns.
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Author’s calculation based on several sources. Membership figures are generally not disclosed by the political parties.
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Matthews, N. The changing face of party policy selection in post-devolution Northern Ireland. Br Polit 12, 361–385 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-017-0047-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-017-0047-7