Building Bridges? The Political Implications of Electoral Integration for Northern Ireland

The concept of cross-cutting cleavages has provided an influential explanation of why some regions with severe ethnic divisions have been able to establish and maintain political stability, while others have experienced violent conflict. It is suggested that where a deep communal cleavage is cross-cut by other politically salient divisions, a network of overlapping group memberships is created. This generates a series of divided loyalties that reduce the internal cohesiveness of any one group and encourages greater social and political stability. In the absence of such cross pressures, cumulative, reinforcing allegiances create ‘fragmented’ political cultures where all the politically relevant sources of division lie parallel, where group loyalty is paramount and where intercommunal hostility is the norm.