nam 22 uu 4500 10.17176/20230412-190220-0 DE-Verfassungsblog cr||||| 230412s2023||||xx#|||||o|||| ||| 0|eng|| 10.17176/20230412-190220-0 doi eng 342 23 O'Cinneide, Colm Author aut Democracy, Sovereignty and Europe - The Contrasting European Trajectories of Ireland and the UK O'Cinneide, Colm Verfassungsblog 2023-04-12 Text txt rdacontent Computermedien c rdamedia Online-Ressource cr rdacarrier Fifty years after Ireland and UK joined the EEC together in January 1973, the two states find themselves on radically different European trajectories. Both are common law countries with shared traditions of parliamentary governance and strong cultural links to the wider Anglosphere. However, in Ireland there is broad elite and popular support for maintaining alignment with the requirements of EU and ECHR law – while, in the UK, such European influences trigger a sharp allergic reaction. What explains this dramatic divergence? The answer perhaps lies partially in the differing ‘constitutional imaginaries’ of Ireland and the UK, and how EU and ECHR alignment is understood to impact on the exercise of popular sovereignty in both states. CC BY-SA 4.0 EU Membership Ireland Parliamentary Sovereignty Popular Sovereign United Kingdom Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 https://verfassungsblog.de/democracy-sovereignty-and-europe/ raw object