The bullet and the ballot box: The case of the IRA1

Abstract

This paper aims to find out how participation in the electoral process may have helped to alter the strategic outlook of the Irish Republican movement. The questions to be answered are whether electoral participation has contributed to the diminishing importance of terrorist violence in Irish Republican strategy, and – in particular – how electoral participation has influenced the process of strategic change. Based on the construction of a sound theoretical framework within which to evaluate the impact of electoral participation on a terrorist group's strategic outlook, the argument presented is that there were primarily two mechanisms through which electoral participation impacted upon the process of transformation within the Irish Republican movement: (1) its inclusion into a systematic process of dialogue with other political actors, and (2) the exposure to public opinion, whose negative responses towards the use of armed force undermined the reliance on this method. Furthermore, the paper highlights the significance of several enabling factors – the role of external actors, leadership, and state repression – which may be used to enhance our theoretical framework in further studies.