The process of democratic nation-making reached full fruition while a vicious civil war was raging, ostensibly fought over points of political principle but actually deciding whether Ireland was to be ruled by popular majority will or by a virtuous but unaccountable minority. Gavin argues that militant republicanism always lacked popular, democratic legitimacy and that mainstream Irish nationalism was moderate and realistic. It was this nation-building tradition that triumphed in 1922. Thus, Ireland did not go the way of so many newly emerging European states. There evolved a stable democracy which eventually came to include most of those defeated in 1922.
- ISBN10 0717124398
- ISBN13 9780717124398
- Publish Date 31 August 1996
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 8 November 2009
- Publish Country IE
- Publisher Gill
- Imprint Gill & Macmillan Ltd
- Format Paperback
- Pages 256
- Language English