The Institutional Design of Executive Formation in Northern Ireland

Abstract:

The article employs an institutionalist approach to explain the design of executive power sharing under the d'Hondt procedure in the Northern Ireland 1998 Agreement. It argues that the preference for d'Hondt was due to (1) the evolution of proposals from the 1970s and (2) the preferences of the parties for proportional, inclusive and automatic power sharing whereby ministerial seats are allocated subject to party strength in the assembly. The paper considers the processes of structure and agency that led to executive design in 1998 and points to the ongoing design since the suspension of the devolved institutions in October 2002.