Abstract
Democratic governance in Northern Ireland is consociational
(i.e. power sharing is mandatory). The role of Special Advisers within
mandatory coalitions has received little attention from scholars, despite
the fact that consociationalism is increasingly prescribed as a solution
to fragmented conflict ridden societies across the world. Drawing on
data from elite interviews with Government Information Officers, Special
Advisers and journalists, this paper utilises a discursive framework
to analyse their perspectives on the impact and role of Special Advisers
in Northern Ireland’s devolved, power-sharing government. In particular,
we consider how Special Advisers impact on the communication
of departmental and Executive policy. Initial findings suggest that
while Special Advisers function similarly to those working elsewhere
inWestminster model democracies, the post-conflict and politically volatile
consociational context in Northern Ireland adds additional complexity
to their role. SpAds not only articulate issues to the media but
also play an important diplomatic role in inter-party negotiation and
conflict resolution between the five ideologically opposed parties in government.
Special Advisers in Northern Ireland therefore not only communicate
their minister’s political priorities and policy decisions, but
also play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of internal
and external working relationships across the consociational governing
administration. This paper adds to our knowledge of Special Advisers
in democratic societies by evaluating their role in what is, by Western
European standards, a relatively unique political system.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Organisational and Strategic Communication Research: European Perspectives |
Editors | Gisela Gonçalves, Ian Somerville, Ana Melo |
Place of Publication | Portugal |
Publisher | Livros Labcom |
Pages | 167-191 |
Number of pages | 25 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-989-654-115-6 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Bibliographical note
The full text is available from: http://www.labcom-ifp.ubi.pt/livro/104Keywords
- government communication
- democracy
- post-conflict
- Nothern Ireland
- consociationalism
Themes
- Governance, Leadership and Trust
- Peace and Conflict