Culture lag and democratic deficit in Ireland: Or, 'Dat's outside de terms of d'agreement'

Abstract

The main characteristics of the institutional context of policy making in Ireland are examined and their more latent consequences for community development delineated. The emphasis on partnership at all levels, on nation and, ironically, on community, is shown to contribute more to the legitimation of the state than to the cause of community development. This has created difficulties in responding adequately to new policy issues such as redistribution and immigration. The case of Ireland is seen as merely an extreme example of the more widespread failure to discriminate adequately between the nature and appropriate functions of the community, the public sphere and the state. The development of the public sphere is stymied with the result that communities cannot democratically articulate their differences or develop a sense of agency and skills in self‐organization.