Travail écrit : "Stormont's ugly scaffolding : How the Northern Irish political institutions reinforce "green and orange"voting."

Abstract

This paper examines the reasons as to why the electorate of Northern Ireland continues to vote by their constitutional preference (for the state to remain a constituent country of the United Kingdom or as part of a unified Ireland with the Republic of Ireland). By speaking to academics knowledgeable in the field of Northern Ireland politics and political representatives of parties present in the Northern Irish government at Stormont, this research discovers that Northern Irish voters continue to vote by constitutional preference both as a result of the consociational setup of government, and a lack of party-political engagement across the divide with voters of other identities. What results is a political structure wherein voting behaviour remains heavily embedded within the political socialisation related to the voters’ community background.