Evans, JAJ and Tonge, J (2007) Unionist party competition and the Orange Order vote in Northern Ireland. Electoral Studies, 26 (1). 156 - 167. ISSN 0261-3794
Abstract
The period since the signing of Northern Ireland's ‘peace deal’, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA), has seen a shift in the votes of many Protestants to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), hitherto seen as a hardline, anti-GFA organisation fusing religion and politics. This article uses a case study of the Orange Order, the largest religious-cultural organisation in Northern Ireland containing almost one-in-four Protestant voters, to examine the basis of the appeal of more militant Protestant Unionism in the DUP. The article suggests that a radical ethnic militancy is apparent amongst younger ‘Orange’ Protestants in particular. This shift in Protestant-Unionist opinion has been exacerbated in a post-conflict party system, in which electoral competition is based upon intra-ethnic bloc rivalry around the defence of the interests of a particular bloc.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | Northern Ireland; Vote; Unionism; Vote transfers; Religion; Conservatism; Militancy; Protestantism |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 Feb 2014 11:52 |
Last Modified: | 15 Sep 2014 02:02 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2006.01.006 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.electstud.2006.01.006 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:77681 |