Conflict and Consensus: A Study of Values and Attitudes in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (European Values Studies)

This study presents a detailed comparison of cultural values and attitudes in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is based on survey data covering the period from the 1970s to 2003 but focusing especially on the European Values Study (EVS) as fielded in the two parts of Ireland in 1999-2000. The study confirms the deep divisions in identity and political allegiance that separate the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. But it also shows that on many issues, Protestants and Catholics on the island of Ireland are culturally more similar to each other than to any other national population in Europe, including Britain. Contents ......Page 6 Notes on Authors......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 10 List of Tables......Page 11 List of Figures......Page 14 1 Introduction......Page 16 Introduction......Page 21 Political culture and political cleavage......Page 22 The dominance of the centre-periphery cleavage......Page 25 Implications for other cleavages......Page 27 Change and the expected shape of contemporary cleavages......Page 28 Value cleavages North and South: the evidence......Page 32 Conclusion......Page 42 Background......Page 45 Objectives......Page 49 Religious identification and church membership......Page 50 Decline in religious practice......Page 54 Public attitudes toward the church: a growing disillusionment......Page 62 The privatisation of religion: believing without belonging......Page 64 Pioneers of secularisation......Page 67 Conclusion......Page 69 Introduction......Page 72 Religious identification and national identity......Page 75 Trends in identity in Northern Ireland......Page 77 Importance of identity in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland......Page 79 Socio-demographic correlates of national identity in Northern Ireland......Page 81 National identities in Ireland: ethnic or civic?......Page 83 Citizenship......Page 87 Political identity in Northern Ireland......Page 90 Overlap in religious, national and political identity......Page 93 Conclusion......Page 97 Introduction......Page 102 Objectives......Page 103 Constitutional preferences......Page 104 Socio-demographic characteristics, identity and constitutional preferences in Northern Ireland......Page 109 The road to compromise: support for the Good Friday Agreement......Page 112 Trends in support for the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland......Page 115 Explanations for increasing Protestant disillusionment with the Agreement......Page 117 Conclusion......Page 124 Introduction......Page 129 The importance of family, marriage and joint parenthood......Page 133 Homosexuality and abortion......Page 136 The impact of age and education......Page 141 The impact of secularisation......Page 144 A common consensus?......Page 147 Is Ireland different?......Page 148 Conclusion......Page 152 Introduction......Page 155 The left-right divide......Page 156 New politics?......Page 165 Gender roles......Page 167 Is Ireland postmaterialist?......Page 170 Conclusion......Page 175 Introduction......Page 177 Work......Page 178 Measurement of subjective well-being......Page 182 Trends in subjective well-being in Ireland......Page 185 Religion, religious denominations and subjective well-being......Page 188 Social correlates of subjective well-being......Page 190 Social capital......Page 192 Trust......Page 194 Participation in voluntary organisations......Page 196 Conclusion......Page 198 Introduction......Page 200 The structure of confidence in political institutions......Page 202 Trends in confidence in institutions......Page 207 Evaluations of democracy and of the system of government......Page 210 Orientations to political action and political participation......Page 215 A multivariate analysis of political engagement......Page 228 Conclusion......Page 230 10 Conclusion......Page 233 Appendix 1: Data sources......Page 249 Appendix 2: European Values Study 1999-2000......Page 252 References......Page 285 Index......Page 298 Annotation. This study presents a detailed comparison of cultural values and attitudes in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is based on survey data covering the period from the 1970s to 2003 but focusing especially on the European Values Study (EVS) as fielded in the two parts of Ireland in 1999-2000. The study confirms the deep divisions in identity and political allegiance that separate the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. But it also shows that on many issues, Protestants and Catholics on the island of Ireland are culturally more similar to each other than to any other national population in Europe, including Britain This study uses a wide range of survey data to examine present-day differences in identity and political allegiance between Catholics and Protestants on the island of Ireland but also to show the extensive cultural similarities that cut across the Catholic-Protestant divide.