Politics in Ireland is the first major text to provide an accessible and systematic analysis of the politics of Ireland: North as well as South.
With the development of a new Northern Irish political system and increasing links across the island, the authors argue that the time is ripe to study together the two polities, which share so much of a common history but which have had very different evolutions through the 20th century.
Drawing upon an exceptionally wide range of sources and their own original research, the authors deploy a thematic approach to the study of political institutions, political behaviour and public policy in both the Republic and Northern Ireland in order to produce a detailed, but highly readable, assessment of governance and politics in both political systems. This approach enables them both to outline the differences and similarities between the polities and to explain how they relate to the wider world, in particular to the UK and to Europe.

MAURA ADSHEAD is Senior Lecturer and Public Administration in Politics at the Unviersity of Limerick, Ireland.

Introduction: Political Foundations of Irish Politics
PART I: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
The Executive
The Legislature
The Bureaucracy
The Judiciary
PART II: POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR
Political Parties and the Party System
Electoral System and Voting Behaviour
Civil Society, Interest Groups and Pressure Politics
Political Culture
PARTIII: PUBLIC POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
Territorial Administration and Sub-National Government
Economic Management
Social Policy and the Welfare State
Ireland in the EU
Conclusions: Towards a New Ireland?