Skip to main content

Managing Europe from an Irish perspective: critical junctures and the increasing formalization of the core executive in Ireland

O'Mahony, Jane, Laffan, Brigid (2007) Managing Europe from an Irish perspective: critical junctures and the increasing formalization of the core executive in Ireland. Public Administration, 85 (1). pp. 167-188. ISSN 0033-3298. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-9299.2007.00640.x) (KAR id:1411)

PDF
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
[thumbnail of padm_639.pdf]
Microsoft Word
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
[thumbnail of Managing_Europe_CJ_and_formalisation_in_Ireland.doc]
PDF (Managing Europe from an Irish Perpective) Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English
Download this file
(PDF/456kB)
[thumbnail of Managing Europe from an Irish Perpective]
Preview
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2007.00640.x

Abstract

This article analyzes the management of European Union (EU) business by the Irish core executive. More specifically, it investigates the demands placed by EU membership on the Irish system of public administration and how the system has responded to these demands. Employing an institutionalist analytical framework, the article maps the formal and informal organisational and procedural devices or structures used to manage EU affairs in Ireland, as well as dissecting the key relationships that govern this management process and the role of the domestic agents actively involved in the EU’s governance structure, the cadre or boundary managers. The article also explores in a dynamic way the development of the capacity for the management of EU affairs in Ireland over time. Using the concepts of path dependency and critical junctures, we illuminate how key system-management decisions became locked-in over time and we isolate the triggers for significant adaptational change, be they domestic or external. Adaptation to EU business in Ireland was path-dependent and consisted of gradual incremental adjustment. This system of flexible adaptation generally served Ireland well as the EU’s policy regime expanded and evolved, but in response to the shock rejection of the Nice Treaty by the electorate in 2001, significant formalisation of the Irish system occurred with the establishment of new processes and rules for managing relations between the core executive and the EU.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2007.00640.x
Subjects: J Political Science > JN Political institutions and public administration (Europe)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Politics and International Relations
Depositing User: Jane O'Mahony
Date Deposited: 19 Dec 2007 18:55 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Jul 2023 13:17 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/1411 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.