Social partnership and local development in Ireland: The limits to deliberation

Abstract

The Irish model of social partnership is considered distinctive as it is based on the principles of deliberative democracy more than adversarial bargaining. The deliberative features of the model are considered to be threefold. First, the negotiations to conclude national social agreements are not confined to the government, trade unions and employers, but also include a wide range of civil associations. Second, agreements are not simply concerned with wage determination, but cover a wide range of matters designed to promote social inclusion. Third, there is an effort to avoid agreements being overly centralized by promoting programmes at the local, territorial level. This paper examines the validity of this argument by assessing efforts to forge a local dimension to the social partnership model. The conclusions suggest that while the model has improved the delivery of public services, it is premature to claim that Irish social partnership represents a new model of labour market governance based on deliberative democracy. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2006.