Northern Ireland Assembly - Reputations and Realities

Northern Ireland's power- sharing Assembly is understudied in the legislative studies literature. Having been suspended (or de facto suspended) for around 40% of its existence, conversation has tended to focus more on the wider political problems in which the Assembly has been enmeshed and less on its day-to-day functions as a legislature.

This book is the first to examine how the Assembly fulfils the four core functions of a legislature: representation, linkage, scrutiny, and policy- making. Using Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) as the primary unit of analysis, the book explores: who and how MLAs represent; their approach to cultivating links with constituents; their use of parliamentary scrutiny tools; and their contribution to law- making. The book grounds its analysis in original data sourced from elite interviews, surveys, parliamentary questions, legislation, and the Official Report of parliamentary proceedings. Readers will therefore be able to reflect on whether the Assembly's (often poor) reputations comport with empirical realities.

This book contributes to debates in the legislative studies and consociational power- sharing literatures, and will be of interest to students and scholars of parliaments, devolution, and Northern Ireland politics.

List of contents

1 Introduction: an Assembly that matters?
2 Representation: MLAs as 'ethnic ambassadors' and 'party animals'?
3 Linkage: MLAs and (mini) constituency service
4 Scrutiny: MLAs and patterns of parliamentary questions
5 Policy- making: MLAs, committees, and the legislative process
6 Conclusion: reputations and realities

About the author

Sean Haughey is Lecturer in Politics at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool.

Summary

Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Assembly is understudied in the legislative studies literature. Having been suspended (or de facto suspended) for around 40% of its existence, conversation has tended to focus more on the wider political problems in which the Assembly has been enmeshed and less on its day-to-day functions as a legislature.

Product details

• Authors: Sean Haughey, Sean (University of Liverpool Haughey
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 08.09.2023
• EAN: 9780367366568
• ISBN: 978-0-367-36656-8
• No. of pages: 166
• Series: Library of Legislative Studies
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European, Northern Ireland, Political structure & processes, British & Irish history, International institutions, Political structure and processes, EU & European institutions