The Irish Labour Party: The Advantages, Disadvantages and Irrelevance of Europeanization?

Abstract

This article seeks to develop an understanding of the parameters of Europeanization when applied to political parties, and aims to modify and enhance some of the existing approaches. It does so on the basis of a case study examination of the Irish Labour Party, which, it is argued, provides an excellent example of the Europeanization of a political party, as well as bringing to light certain interesting additional features relating to this phenomenon. Examination of the Labour Party suggests that some aspects of Europeanization are more powerful than others and can even act as catalysts for further, deeper Europeanization. It also demonstrates that Europeanization not only directly affects actors such as political parties but it can also have an indirect impact through their subsequent activity.

Acknowledgements

This paper is derived from a version presented at the Annual Conference of University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) in Zagreb in September 2005 under the title ‘Europeanization and political parties: developing an understanding of the European‐national political domains’. The author would like to acknowledge the support provided by the British Academy towards attending that conference.