Jack Armstrong (QUB) and Richard Hargy (QUB). 

 

Jack will present his work on: Do lower preference transfers assist moderate political parties in deeply divided societies? Evidence from local elections in Northern Ireland since 1973.

Abstract: One of the stated advantages of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) voting system in deeply divided societies is that voters are given the opportunity to express support for a range of parties. Proponents argue that this will result in voters casting their second or lower preferences across community lines in ways that encourage support for moderate parties and reduce conflict. This study examines patterns of vote transfers in Northern Ireland in the twelve local elections since 1973, to determine whether voters are transferring support across the ethno-national divide, and whether such transferring has increased over time. This analysis will provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of STV in encouraging support for moderate parties and cross-community transfers in deeply divided societies.

 

 

Richard will talk about: The State Department’s Northern Ireland Special Envoys and the redemption of the Good Friday Agreement.

 

Abstract: The George W. Bush administration’s intervention in Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2007 was decisive and remains undervalued and misunderstood. Throughout this time the US State Department determined American involvement in the region with responsibility for strategy falling to two successive directors of the Policy Planning Staff: Richard Haass and Mitchell Reiss. This essay demonstrates how the sources and operations of these men’s decision-making authority enabled the US to intercede as a third-party actor with the results being pivotal to the restoration of devolution in May 2007. State Department control of US involvement in Northern Ireland points to a manner of US intervention that I posit as assertive unilateralism.