Arend Lijphart and the transformation of Irish democracy

This article assesses the extent to which institutional change has produced a consensus democracy in the Republic of Ireland. It measures this change over time, examining each of the variables Lijphart associates with the distinction between majoritarian and consensus democracy. We show that the Irish system is moving away from its Westminster roots, but some variables on the executive-parties dimension have hardly changed at all. Hence, we relate the Irish preference for 'divided power' forms of consensus democracy to the strong British imprint on the state's core legislative institutions.