Northern Ireland narratives of British democracy

Abstract

The article explores the contentious meanings in Northern Ireland not only of ‘democracy’ but also of ‘British’. It examines the influence of ideas of majoritarian democracy in Northern Ireland and how the legitimacy of that majoritarian narrative was challenged after 1969. The difficulties of developing an alternative and shared narrative of democratic participation, known as power-sharing, is considered and the current outline of the so-called Northern Ireland political ‘model’ of democratic politics is described and its operative strengths and deficiencies identified.