The problems of modernising an ethno-religious party: the case of the Ulster Unionist Party in Northern Ireland

Structural reforms of political parties in Western Europe have shifted these actors towards individual member organizations in which sectional interests have diminished in salience. This process has been accompanied by a secularization of parties, as links to religious organizations have declined. Such developments have been facilitated by a matching of the need for structural reform with the electoral imperative of the removal of electorally unpopular associations. Where such alignment is less apparent, however, processes of modernization may be shelved. This is apparent in Northern Ireland, where the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) declined to remove the Orange Order from its structures, relying instead upon the Order to voluntarily sever the link. This article employs Downsian and sociological models to assess the debate over whether to proceed with party modernization amid electoral risk. It finds that, even if the UUP leadership had been able to convince its members to adopt such a modernization strategy, this would not eradicate divisions within the party upon constitutional and policy questions, and indeed would push the party away from popular Protestant opinion. As such, modernization in this ‘deviant’ case cannot be seen as a rational strategy.