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RESEARCH PRODUCT

From Protest to Power: The Rise of the DUP

Jan Erik Mustad

subject

Party of powermedia_common.quotation_subjectOpposition (politics)Democracylanguage.human_languagePoliticsIrishProtestantismPolitical sciencePolitical economyPolitical historyduplanguagemedia_common

description

In 2006, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) performed the most spectacular political turnaround in Northern Irish political history. The party worked against any Irish dimension in Northern Irish politics but took up power with Sinn Fein (SF) after the St Andrews agreement. This chapter discusses how the DUP emerged as the leading unionist party. The unionist ‘zero-sum-game’ went in favour of the DUP, but what motivated this political change in the unionist community? This chapter traces how the DUP moved from being a party of clear opposition to becoming a party of power. How did the party increase its electoral support while they at the same time manoeuvred themselves into a negotiating position where they gradually were taken seriously as a negotiating partner in attempting to find a settlement?

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2018-09-04
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91232-5_5