Political violence and democracy: an analysis of the tensions within Irish republican strategy, 1914–2002

Abstract

This article examines the tactics used by Irish republicans to obtain an independent republic during the twentieth century. Special attention is given to the recognition of patterns in the causes and consequences of the many splits in the movement over the issue of abstention from the existing political institutions. It proposes an innovative model in which the responses of the republican movement to the pressures of political struggle and military conflict can be represented. It also asserts that accepting that Irish republicans are serious about their democratic objectives, even when they reject the existing democratic institutions, enables a consistent explanation of their political actions.