Why Northern Ireland’s Institutions Need Reform

Abstract

Abstract In a previous volume of this journal, scholars of consociational power-sharing counselled against reform of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions. Since then, repeated episodes of collapse and dysfunction have necessitated reconsideration of the case for institutional reform. This article argues that a sensible case now exists for reforms to enhance the stability and functionality of Northern Ireland’s consociation. Situating its analysis within broader debates on the evolution of consociational systems, it draws on elite political discourse and original public opinion data (N = 2,034) to assess support for reform and to consider associated trade-offs. We show that changing electoral and ethnonational dynamics have occasioned shifts in elite political attitudes to reform, and highlight public appetite for reform, including in relation to one of the consociation’s most powerful vetoes. Sustainable reform, the article concludes, will be most feasible when elite receptivity to change, civic involvement and (subtle) external support converge.