This is the first comprehensive study of direct rule as the system of governance which operated in Northern Ireland for most of the period between 1972 and 2007. The major institutions of governance are described and examined in detail, including the often neglected sectors of the role of the Westminster parliament, the civil service, local government, quangos, ombudsmen offices, cross-border structures and the public expenditure process. The book explains how the complex system covering transferred, reserved and excepted functions worked and provided viable governance despite political violence, constitutional conflict and political party disagreements. In addition, a comparison is drawn between direct rule and devolution, analysing both the positive and negative impact of direct rule, as well as identifying where there has been minimal divergence in processes and outcomes. It will prove an invaluable reference source on direct rule and provide a comparative basis for assessing devolution for students of public administration, government, politics, public policy and devolution.

Lee Smithey examines how symbolic cultural expressions in Northern Ireland, such as parades, bonfires, murals, and commemorations, provide opportunities for Protestant unionists and loyalists to reconstruct their collective identities and participate in conflict transformation.

If today’s cities are full of injustices, what would a 'Just City' look like? Contributors to this volume including David Harvey, Peter Marcuse and Susan Fainstein define the concept, examining it from multiple angles in addition to questioning it and suggesting alternatives.

Originally published in 2001. Drawing together a broad range of material on Partnership Governance, this volume provides an invaluable contribution to a fast-growing area of political science. Powerful syntheses and a robust analytical framework accompany three empirical case studies focusing on how the transition from government to governance in Northern Ireland is being superimposed on the deep historical divisions that still exist. Political scientists, geographers, government and society and local development specialists will find this text striking in both its substance and lucid style. The text will also be of interest to public policy officials relying on public partnerships as a means of tackling social, economic and political problems.

A concise history of Northern Ireland through its pivotal moments. Since the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, the constitutional position of Northern Ireland within the Union has endured an unusual level of attention. Northern Ireland and the UK Constitution leads us through its pivotal moments: the 1920–72 Unionist-led governments, the following thirty years of bitter conflicts, the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, and the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union. Considering each of the moments in the broader setting of UK constitutional norms and narratives, she addresses the exceptional constitutional characteristics of Northern Ireland and the ways in which these have often resulted in “blindspot” analyses of the Union. This short book also considers the implications of Brexit and the constitutional impacts and shifts it has brought to Northern Ireland and discusses the possible constitutional repercussions.

This book examines the governance arrangements in Northern Ireland through a multi-level lens, particularly in the period since the new institutions established through the 1998 Agreement became more firmly embedded.

The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant examines what it means to be a public servant in today’s world(s) where globalisation and neoliberalism have proliferated the number of actors who contribute to the public purpose sector and created new spaces that public servants now operate in. It considers how different scholarly approaches can contribute to a better understanding of the identities, motivations, values, roles, skills, positions and futures for the public servant, and how scholarly knowledge can be informed by and translated into value for practice. The book combines academic contributions with those from practitioners so that key lessons may be synthesised and translated into the context of the public servant.