Activism, Political Instability, and Consociational Power-Sharing

Activists campaigning for social and political change face discrete challenges in consociational democracies. Consociationalism is prescribed for societies that are deeply divided along an ethnic, religious, or linguistic cleavage. In such societies, the space and potential for civic mobilisation is reduced. Additionally, consociationalism is an inherently elitist political system that rests on a culture of public passivity in which grassroots agitation may be perceived as risky to fragile political arrangements. If activists mobilise despite these unfavourable circumstances, further hurdles remain. For example, the minority veto present in consociational systems can be (and has been) used to block the advance of campaigns which, in wider society, have attracted high levels of popular support. In short, the odds are stacked against activist campaigners operating in consociational settings. This paper uses the case-study of Northern Ireland to examine how activists navigate – and even exploit – their consociational environment to pursue their aims. The paper focusses on two campaigns which have experienced success that would have been unthinkable only a decade ago: the campaign for Irish to be recognised as an official state language (achieved in 2022) and the LGBTQ campaign for the introduction of same-sex marriage (achieved in 2019). We use data from semi-structured interviews and focus groups with activists to explore how they mobilised to achieve these goals. In particular, the paper examines how activists develop tactics and strategy in response to political instability and the periodic collapses of government that are characteristic of consociational systems. Whereas the dysfunction and even collapse of power-sharing government is often widely lamented, for activist campaigns these moments can represent a strategic opportunity for advancement. As well as furnishing empirical data on the tactics of linguistic and sexual minority activists, the paper has wider relevance for those interested in consociational power-sharing, minority rights, social movements, and the governance of divided societies.