Consolidating peace and democracy in Northern Ireland: The role of civil society

Abstract

The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) attempted to create a workable political framework for managing the conflict in Northern Ireland in a democratic institutional setting. The institutions of the new governing system were based on sectarian self-identification of elites and provided little incentive for politicians to transcend sectarian differences. Since the signing and ratification of this agreement we have witnessed the political success of the more extreme parties at the expense of the moderate parties that were critical to negotiating the GFA. While the parties on the political extremes have moderated, the process of governing has remained extremely difficult because politicians do not perceive any electoral advantage by compromising with the leaders of the other community. The consociational nature of the institutions of the Stormont government has provided a framework where elites representing different communities could bargain and effectively share power in Northern Ireland. However, the lack of a civil society that transcends the sectarian divide with grassroots reconciliation means that elites have little motivation to make the compromises associated with a functioning democratic political framework for Northern Ireland.