Conflict management in Northern Ireland and Spanish Basque Country

This thesis researches the effect of consociationalism as a conflict management tool on the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Spanish Basque Country. In order to determine if consociationalism has been implemented, five indicators are used: proportionality, the effective number of parties, the grand coalition, the mutual veto and segmental autonomy. As a counter-theory, Europeanization is used. The indicators used to determine if Europeanization has been implemented are EU funding, the representation of the regions in the EU institutions and the mediation role of the EU in the conflicts. Evidence is found that elements of both theories have been implemented in both regions, although more elements of consociationalism have been implemented in Northern Ireland than in Basque Country. The EU has not adopted a mediation role in both conflicts. In Northern Ireland, both consociationalism and Europeanization have had an effect on the amount of violent conflict in the region, although the Europeanization has mostly encouraged the adoption of consociational power-sharing. The conclusion for Northern Ireland is that consociationalism has been an effective conflict management tool. In Basque Country no relation could be found between the implemented elements of consociationalism and Europeanization, and the reduction in the amount of violent conflict. The conclusion for Basque Country is that consociationalism has not been an effective conflict management tool.