Gender and Politics in Northern Ireland: The Representation Gap Revisited

Galligan, Yvonne

doi:10.1080/07907184.2013.826193

Cited by 50 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Yet, the ability of this sector to bridge the divide from civil society and to influence and infiltrate formal politics remains weak. Not only does women's descriptive representation remain low (Galligan, 2013), but attempts to organise politically around women's substantive concerns are difficult. Domestic violence legislation remains less developed than the rest of the United Kingdom, and the 1967 Abortion Act has never been extended to the province, rendering abortion effectively illegal in the province (Bloomer and O'Dowd, 2014;Horgan and O'Connor, 2014).…”

Section: Gender and Consociational Government: The Northern Irish Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging identity hierarchies: Gender and consociational power-sharing

Kennedy

Pierson

Thomson

2016

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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Consociational democracy has become the most influential paradigm in the field of powersharing institutional design and post-conflict peacebuilding. Consociation institutes representation for certain formerly excluded groups. However, it simultaneously inhibits effective political representation for groups that do not align with the societal divisions that consociation seeks to accommodate, specifically the 'additional' cleavage of gender. Given the extensive use of the consociational model as a peacebuilding tool in divided states and the growing awareness of the disproportionate negative effect of conflict on women, there is a surprising lack of consideration of the effect that consociational power-sharing has on women's representation. This article considers the specific impact that the consociational model has on women's representation. We argue that because gender is an integral factor in conflict, it should therefore be integral to postconflict governance. With empirical reference to contemporary Northern Ireland, it is illustrated that consociationalism is a 'gender-blind' theory.

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Section: Gender and Consociational Government: The Northern Irish Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging identity hierarchies: Gender and consociational power-sharing

Kennedy

Pierson

Thomson

2016

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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“…However, as Byrne and McCullough (2012) also point out, such revisions and mechanisms to both accommodate and increase female political representation and participation will not be enough. As a number of commentators have also noted, what is further required is much greater attention to the gendered nature of the conflict, including the reproduction of patriarchal privilege in consociational post-conflict political institutions and their power-sharing practices (Galligan, 2006(Galligan, , 2013Byrne and McCullock, 2013;Kennedy et al, 2016). any statutory powers (Hoewer, 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite these obligations and commitments, the post-Agreement period has not proved conducive for the advancement of women. As a number of scholars point out, not only have women been disproportionately negatively affected by the previously highly 'militarised nature' of Northern Ireland, such as the rise in domestic violence and the lack of reproductive rights, but the political arena in particular has remained a 'cold house' for women (Jarman, 2004;Galligan, 2013;Horgan and O'Connor, 2014). Although female political representation has increased somewhat since 1998, it still remains low in comparison to Scotland and Wales 9 and, with the exception of the Italian regional legislatures, it is still the lowest in Western Europe for comparable devolved institutions (Potter, 2013).…”

Section: Women Political Participation and The Northern Ireland Agrementioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Differences in Electoral Turnout among Women in Northern Ireland

Hayes

2016

Parliam Aff

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It is now commonly accepted that democratic elections with increased female participation and representation is an essential element of peacebuilding in postconflict societies. Yet, women are not a monolithic group and their needs are not homogeneous. This is especially the case in post-conflict societies marked by longstanding ethno-national antagonisms, where issues surrounding female unity and women's political participation are often considered secondary to resolving the national identity question. Using data from the 2015 Northern Ireland Election Survey, this paper examines female differences in electoral turnout between the two main religious groupings-Protestant and Catholicin Northern Ireland. The results suggest the existence of a significant religious gap in electoral turnout among women, with Catholic women been significantly more likely to vote than Protestant women. A key factor in accounting for this phenomenon is differences in political engagement and levels of trust in political leaders.

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“…In Northern Ireland, "the political conflict was given a religious hue" Brewer (2015, p. 210), as people in the Catholic minority are traditionally perceived as Irish while Protestant people are perceived as British (Kennedy-Pipe 2014). Following protracted internal conflict in Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and subsequent accords resulted in a cross-community power-sharing structure with minority veto rights, the Northern Ireland Assembly (Galligan 2013). The assembly has been suspended on several occasions and is so at the time of writing (August 2017), following its dissolution in January 2017 and unsuccessful negotiations to reform.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“How Can You Write About a Person Who Does Not Exist?”: Rethinking Pseudonymity and Informed Consent in Life History Research

Mukungu

2017

Social Sciences

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This methodology paper recommends that, when possible, qualitative research on activism should be designed to enable each participant to choose between using a pseudonym and one's actual name. The stance is informed by life history data collection encounters with women in post-conflict settings whose activism seeks to eliminate violence against women and girls (VAWG). The benefits of accommodating a mix of names make this a viable alternative to the prevalent practice of obscuring all participants' identities with pseudonyms. Writing about participants in a way that does no harm to them depends on the care and attention with which the researcher ascribes or dissociates data to or from them, regardless of the name used. Process consent is desirable as participants' consent is not fully informed prior to data collection. One aspect of informed consent worthy of attention is the need to explain the methods of data analysis and presentation of findings to life history participants. The above practices help ensure that negotiating informed consent with participants whilst acting towards the principle of doing no harm are tailored to the particular features of the life history method.

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Gender and Politics in Northern Ireland: The Representation Gap Revisited

Cited by 50 publications

References 16 publications

Challenging identity hierarchies: Gender and consociational power-sharing

Challenging identity hierarchies: Gender and consociational power-sharing

Religious Differences in Electoral Turnout among Women in Northern Ireland

“How Can You Write About a Person Who Does Not Exist?”: Rethinking Pseudonymity and Informed Consent in Life History Research

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