Managing Europe From Home: The Europeanisation of the Irish ...

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British core executive by distinguishing between four institutional gradations—formal institutional structure, processes and procedures, codes and guidelines, and the cultural dimension (Bulmer and Burch 1998). This was later adapted to focus on four institutional dimensions, notably, the systematic, organisational, procedural and regulative (Bulmer and Burch 2000: 50). The analytical focus in this study is on the structures, processes and agents who manage the relationship between the Irish core executive and Brussels. The structural component maps the organizations and structures that form the core executive in Ireland and the key relationships in the management of EU affairs over time. The process component examines pathways for EU related information through the Irish domestic system and the codes, rules, guidelines that govern the handling of EU business over time. The agent component tracks the cadre of officials who are primarily responsible for mediating between the EU and the national levels. A central concern of historical institutionalism and of this research is the dynamic of change to the structures and processes that govern management of EU matters in Ireland. Historical institutionalism is based on the premise that institutions are ‘sticky’ and that once created may prove difficult and costly to change. Linked to this is the notion that institutions may be locked into a particular path of development. The concept of path dependency is central to historical institutionalism whereby institutions are shaped by ‘critical junctures and developmental pathways’ (Ikenberry 1988: 16). A critical juncture is defined by Collier and Collier as a ‘period of significant change … which is hypothesised to produce distinct legacies’ (Collier and Collier 1991: 29). Change may result from factors or processes exogenous to the institutional system such as an external crisis or may be more incremental as a result of forces internal to the system (Pierson 2000a, 2000b; Scott 2001). According to the propositions of historical institutionalism, institutional change in the national core executive can occur in response to a critical juncture, in other words critical junctures will prompt institutional responses. A critical juncture will lead to disequilibrium in the institutional management of EU business, which will prompt the need for institutional change. This change will in turn be influenced by the embedded nature of existing institutional structures (path dependence). The report proceeds as follows. Section I maps the structure of the Irish core executive as a whole and assesses its responsiveness to reform and change. It also
analyses the Irish core executive’s institutional adaptation to managing EC/EU business in a preliminary manner with the identification of critical junctures in Ireland’s relationship with the EU, including key structural and procedural changes. Section II analyses in more detail the main structures in place within the core executive and how they are organised to handle EU business, i.e. to receive and project. Section III examines the evolution of processes and procedures, i.e. how the structures have worked in practice. Section IV looks at the composition and role of the cadre or agents in the core executive who handle EU business, for example, has this reservoir of expertise been cultivated in any explicit way Section V and the concluding section return to the main questions asked in this report, namely, when and how has the Irish core executive adapted to deal with the consequences of EU membership and do the changes to Irish governmental and administrative institutions represent more incremental and piecemeal reform or radical and transformative change SECTION I The Core Executive in Ireland The Irish core executive and system of government has been categorised as a variant of the Westminster model (See Gallagher, Laver, Mair 2001). One important difference is the significance of a written constitution on Irish politics and government. The 1937 Irish Constitution (Article 28.2) stipulates that the executive power of the Irish State shall be exercised by or on the authority of the Government. Article 28.4.2 provides that: the Government shall meet and act as a collective authority, and shall be collectively responsible for the Departments of State administered by the members of the Government. The key convention of the Westminster model - collective responsibility - lies at the heart of Article 28.4.2 with its reference to ‘collective authority’ and the stipulation that the Government shall be ‘collectively responsible’ for the departments of state. While the Irish and British systems have diverged somewhat since the foundation of the state, this core constitutional convention remains unaltered. The constitution vests political authority in the Government, which meets in Cabinet.
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departments have co-ordination unit
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SECTION IV - THE AGENTS Participati
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margin and should use that margin w
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O’Donnell, Rory. Ed. 2000. Europe
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Appendix 1 Table 6: Attendance by M
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