6 Mark Flashcards
What is power sharing
The Good Friday agreement created a system in NI based upon the principle of power sharing, to ensure that any legislature and executive in NI would be made up of multiple parties from both sides of the community.
The NIA is elected via proportional representation to ensure power sharing takes place, and to try and ensure that the executive is made up of multiple parties (mandatory coalition),
as the source says - The power-sharing system in Northern Ireland has resulted in an Executive Committee in which most parties in the Assembly must be represented.
There are also other mechanisms which exist to ensure power sharing takes place e.g. FM comes largest party, DFM must come from largest party from opposite designation, some votes need cross community support etc.
What is the programme for government
A PfG is the NI Exec Committees legislative agenda detailing what Bills they hope to pass in that particular mandate, as the source tells us in 2020 “The parties agreed on a Programme for Government, setting out their plans for the future”.
This will include the budget and how the EC intends to spend money to try and meet departmental targets,
for example in 2022 the EC announced its plan to introduce a Climate change bill to address environmental issues.
A PfG must be voted upon by the NIA and will require cross community support.
What is devolution
Devolved power is the term used when a Central government – in this case Westminster – grants a regional Assembly certain executive and legislative powers, to allow them to pass local laws in certain areas, in the UK this is in NI, Scotland and Wales.
For example, the NIA has the power to pass legislation regarding education, health and infrastructure, as stated in the source, “Although it did not have devolved power over all areas, the Assembly did create a significant number of laws before its suspension in 2017”.
regional assemblies will usually only be granted powers in certain areas and that many powers will remain solely with the Central government,
these are called ‘reserved matters’,
for example signing international treaties. This contrasts to Direct Rule when NI decisions were being made by non-NI politicians.
What is direct rule
Direct Rule occurs the NIA is suspended, and NI is governed from Parliament at Westminster.
This happened in 1972 due to the escalation of the troubles in NI, lasting until 1998, and re-occurred in 2002-2007 due to a lack of decommissioning from the PIRA.
During these times, decisions regarding policy for NI is put together by the NI Sec of State, a British politician and a member of the PMs cabinet.
As the NI SOS is not a local politician, this can be seen to create a democratic deficit as the SOS is not accountable to the people of NI and cannot be removed during an election if the people are unhappy.
This contrasts to periods of devolution where local laws are being made by local politicians who are accountable to the NI electorate.
What are legacy issues
Legacy – issues which exist as a result of the troubles. They are seen as issues which stem directly from the years of conflict in NI and which the main parties cannot agree on, and which tend to cause division in NI.
Examples of legacy issues would include parades (and whether or not there should be re-routing),
flags – which flags should be flown on official buildings and how often,
the definition of ‘victims’ of the troubles i.e. who would qualify as a victim,
future of the Maze prison site and
how the history of NI should be recorded.
What is the d’hondt method
D’Hondt – this is a mathematical formula used in the NIA to allocate executive seats to ensure that party allocation correlates with party strength in the NIA after the most recent election.
Helps to ensure power sharing as it forces a mandatory coalition to prevent majority rule, also attempts to provide cross cooperation.
Used to appoint all exec ministers with the exception of Fm, DFM and Justice Minister. The Speaker will ask the largest party to choose a Government dept 1st, and then this formula is used to reduce that party’s overall strength and the next dept will be chosen the next largest party,
this continues until All exec depts have been taken.
For example, in 2023, SF as largest party chose dept of economy, and DUP as 2nd largest party after d’Hondt was applied was able to choose education.
What is cross community support
Cross-community support is one of the ways in which Power sharing is ensured in the NIA. it is the support of majority voting from unionist and nationalist parties
Certain resolutions must get cross community support in order to be passed, for example the budget, election of the Speaker, PMBs.
This is to ensure that everyone would feel represented by the political systems, but to ensure that no discriminatory legislation could be passed, and to protect minority interests as a whole.
Such resolutions must therefore get not just a simple majority in the NIA but actually a majority vote from both designations in the NIA.
Such votes will be subject to either Parallel Consent or a Weighted Majority vote to guarantee that they are only passed if there is a majority from both sides of the community.
For example, Jim McAllister’s PMB to reform the NIA and Executive in 2016 could only be passed with support from both sides of the community.
What is proportional representation
Proportional Representation – Single Transferable Vote. This electoral system is used for council elections and for electing MLAs.
This voting method is fairer than first past the post as the number of seats each party gets is closer to the actual number of votes they got.
Voters get to rank their choices, 1,2,3,4,5, etc… so fewer votes are wasted.
There is a set number of votes needed for each candidate to get elected, this is called the ‘quota’.
At each stage of the vote count the person with the lowest number of votes gets removed and their votes are distributed among the remaining candidates.
The count can take a long time if there are a lot of candidates.
PRSTV has the additional benefit of multi-member constituencies (in other words 5 MLAs for each constituency rather than one which gives constituents a wider choice of who to go to for help if they need it.)
E.g. South Belfast has MLAs from alliance, DUP, Sinn Fein and the SDLP.
What are petitions of concern
This is when 30 MLAs or 3 executive ministers can delay a controversial bill and protect communities’ interest.
This was introduced as a safeguarding measure designed to prevent either community feeling dominated by the other and to prevent any type of discriminatory legislation from being passed.
In the 2011-2016 mandate there were 115 petitions of concern for example, there was 48 on the welfare reform bill with the DUP signing 86 petitions compared to Sinn Féin signing 29.
However, it can be seen to slow down the legislative system and create division within the executive and assembly.
What is meant by mandatory coalition
A mandatory coalition refers to a political arrangement where power-sharing is required by law.
This is a type of coalition used in divided societies to ensure the main political groups are represented in government, this was established to address sectarian divisions and initiate peace
for example the NI executive has been devolved for areas of government such as education, health, and transportation.
This mandatory coalition was established under the 1998 good Friday agreements with Sinn Féin and the DUP leading the coalition promoting stability and cooperation in Northern Ireland.
What is the role of the speaker
They have a role of chairing plenary meetings in the assembly to ensure these run as they should.
They also are the chairs of the business committee to discuss what should be discussed in the chamber as well as chairing the assembly commission that is responsible to ensure that the assembly has the accommodation, staff, and services needed to carry out its work.
The speaker carries out legislative, ambassadorial, and procedural functions to guarantee the assembly runs effectively.
They ensure fairness and represent MLAs and the assembly to make sure MLAs don’t breach the rules within the assembly.
What is the role of an MLA
MLAs are elected representatives allowing them to play a representative role through holding surgeries to represent their constituents’ interests and raise issues on their behalf and region.
They also have the ability to introduce legislation through private members bills as well as being able to debate and amend laws within the assembly.
They can also hold the executive to account as they can question ministers to uphold their party and constituents’ questions on government policy to ensure transparency.
Lastly, they also take part in committee work on statutory committees such as the education committee to scrutinise the executive and make recommendations for policy improvements.
What is meant by collective responsibility
This refers to the principle that all members of the executive are all responsible for the decisions made by the government as a whole.
If individual ministers have differing opinions about a particular decision of policy they are expected to still publicly support and uphold all decisions made by the executive.
This was established under the good Friday to maintain cohesion within the government and promote stability by presenting a united front. If a minister strongly disagrees, they can resign.
How is the executive committee formed
The executive committee is made up of the first, deputy first minister, a governing executive of nine departmental ministers and a legislative assembly of 90 members. The first and deputy first minister can decide the total number of ministers in the committee and are responsible for the day-to-day government decisions within areas of their responsibility.
They draft budgetsand the programme for the government which have to be approved by the assembly.
It is a three-tiered arrangement that allocates seats on this committee based on the number of seats each party wins in the assembly election.
What is internment
This is the arrest and detention of people without trial
