Abstentionism is the political practice of standing for election to adeliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from anelection boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself. Abstentionism has been used byIrish republican political movements in the United Kingdom and Ireland since the early 19th century. It was also used by Hungarian and Czech nationalists in theAustrian Imperial Council in the 1860s.[1]
When suppressing theHungarian Revolution of 1848, theAustrian Empire abolished theDiet of Hungary.[1] Austria's 1861February Patent reserved places for Hungary in the indirectly electedImperial Council, but the Hungarians did not send representatives, arguing the council was usurping authority properly belonging to the Diet.[1] Emulating the Hungarians, theCzech delegates forBohemia withdrew in 1863, and those fromMoravia in 1864.[1] Hungarian demands were met by theCompromise of 1867, with the empire becoming thedual monarchy ofAustria-Hungary in whichthe Hungarian half was ruled by a revived Diet.[1]
In 1904,Arthur Griffith publishedThe Resurrection of Hungary arguing for a British–Irish dual monarchy similar to the 1867 compromise. Griffith's subsequent "Sinn Féin policy" developed this model.Tom Kettle of theIrish Parliamentary Party (IPP) countered that Bohemia had remained inthe Austrian half of the post-1867 empire, and its delegates abandoned abstentionism in 1879.[2]
After theAct of Union 1800, Ireland was represented in theBritish Parliament of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in theHouse of Lords and theHouse of Commons. Repeal of the Act of Union was a goal of manyIrish nationalists.
In 1845, a motion was carried at theRepeal Association's committee for all Irish members of parliament (MPs) to withdraw from Westminster. It was proposed byThomas Osborne Davis of theYoung Ireland movement. However, the committee felt that MPs already sitting could not withdraw without breaking theoath of office they had taken upon election.[3] TheIrish Confederation, which withdrew from the Repeal Association in 1847, resolved in favour of immediate abstention; however, its founderWilliam Smith O'Brien continued to speak at Westminster.[4] In 1848,Charles Gavan Duffy proposed that Irish MPs expelled from Westminster should sit in a separate Irish parliament.[5]
Other early abstentionist advocates includedGeorge Sigerson in 1862, andJohn Dillon in 1878, who envisaged abstentionist Irish MPs meeting in a separate Irish parliament.[6]
From the 1860s,Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) leadersCharles Kickham andJohn O'Leary favoured abstentionism.[7] In 1869,G. H. Moore suggested nominating imprisonedrepublicans for election, knowing they were precluded as convictedfelons from taking seats.[8] On this basis,Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa (in 1870) andJohn Mitchel (twice in 1875) were returned at by-elections inTipperary; O'Donovan Rossa was in prison at his election, while Mitchel was in exile.
Kickham envisaged a "great national conference" calling on Irish MPs to withdraw from Westminster. A motion to that effect was proposed byCharles Guilfoyle Doran and passed at the convention of theHome Rule League.[9]"Honest" John Martin, "independent nationalist" MP forCounty Meath from 1871 to 1875, spoke in Westminster only to raise nationalist protests, and refused to vote.[10] At the1874 general election, 59 Home Rule MPs were returned, includingJohn O'Connor Power inMayo, who was a member of the IRB Supreme Council. He was to fall out with the IRB over allegations of misappropriating election funds,[11] and became progressively less radical. O'Connor Power believed that Westminster was the best platform to argue Ireland's case for self-government. Withdrawal from Parliament would be an abandonment of the Home Rule party to those who favoured conciliation rather than confrontation.[12] By 1876 it was clear that the HRL would never be able to organise a national convention, and MPs elected with its endorsement would remain at Westminster.[13] An alternative to abstentionism wasobstructionism, including the use offilibuster. This was practised by the HRL and its successor, the IPP underCharles Stuart Parnell from the late 1870s.
Arthur Griffith's "Sinn Féin Policy", formulated between 1905 and 1907, called for Irish MPs to abstain from Westminster and sit in a parallel parliament inDublin.[14] The first Sinn Féin abstentionist candidate wasCharles Dolan in 1908. Having sat as MP forNorth Leitrim for the IPP, he resigned after joining Sinn Féin, and lost the ensuing by-election.[6][15]Laurence Ginnell's 1909 proposal that theUnited Ireland League (UIL) adopt abstentionism caused a near-riot; he left the UIL but continued to sit at Westminster until he joined Sinn Féin in 1917.[16] Abstentionism was opposed by most nationalists, especially after theJanuary 1910 general election when the IPP held thebalance of power at Westminster and secured passage of theThird Home Rule Bill fromthe Liberal government.[17] The nationalist mood changed after the1916 Rising, and the IPP itself withdrew from Westminster in April 1918, to protest against theextension of conscription to Ireland.[18] At the1916 West Cork by-election, Sinn Féin initially endorsedAll-for-Ireland League candidate Frank J. Healy, a supporter interned after the 1916 Rising, but withdrew support when Healy declared his intention to take his seat; the confusion contributed to Healy's defeat.[19]
The first abstentionist MP elected was CountGeorge Noble Plunkett after theNorth Roscommon by-election of 3 February 1917.[20] Plunkett did not categorically state his abstentionism until after his victory.[21] Plunkett's Liberty League, Griffith's monarchist Sinn Féin, and the northern Irish Nation League merged later that year into a reconstitutedSinn Féin, agreeing after contentious disputation that abstentionism was a principle rather than merely a tactic.[22] Sinn Féin MPs elected at the1918 general election refused to take their seats at Westminster and instead constituted themselves in Dublin in January 1919 as the TDs (Teachtaí Dála) of thefirstDáil, which was claimed to be the legitimate parliament of theIrish Republic.[23] TheIrish Labour Party stood aside in 1918 in favour of Sinn Féin, having at first proposed to be abstentionist until emergency laws were lifted.[24] Sinn Féin was unsure whether to boycott the1921 elections to theHouse of Commons of Northern Ireland andHouse of Commons of Southern Ireland set up by theGovernment of Ireland Act 1920.[25] It decided to contest the Northern election for tactical reasons and the Southern one for consistency, with its returned MPs becoming the TDs of theSecond Dáil.[25]
One strand within Republicanism, in remaining loyal to this pre-Partition Irish Republic, denies thelegitimacy of both theRepublic of Ireland andNorthern Ireland.[26] Other parties reached accommodation with the southern state but not Northern Ireland. Some groups have boycotted elections within either jurisdiction; others have been abstentionist; others abstained from some bodies but not others. Abstentionism has often been a divisive issue within Republicanism.
The 1921Anglo-Irish Treaty established theIrish Free State, with an opt-out forNorthern Ireland and requiring anOath of Allegiance forFree State legislators. The Treaty split Sinn Féin, mainly over the Oath rather than "Partition", and caused theIrish Civil War.[27] TheJune 1922 election featured a "Sinn Féin panel" of pro- and anti-Treaty candidates, but the resultingThird Dáil was boycotted by the anti-Treaty TDs. These refounded Sinn Féin in 1923 and based their continued abstention from theFree State Dáil on Partition.[28]Fianna Fáil split from Sinn Féin in 1926 and abandoned abstentionism in the Free State in 1927.[29] From1955, Sinn Féin contestedlocal elections in the Republic of Ireland and took its seats, arguing this did not amount to recognising the state.[30]
In 1970, at itsArd Fheis (annual conference), Sinn Féin split again on the issue of whether or not to reverse its long-standing policy of refusing to take seats inDáil Éireann. The split created two parties calling themselves "Sinn Féin". The anti-abstentionist party was known as "Official" Sinn Féin. It changed its name to "Sinn Féin the Workers Party" (SFWP) and won a seat in the Dáil inthe general election of 1981, which it took. The following year it dropped "Sinn Féin" from its name to become "The Workers' Party". The abstentionist party was initially referred to as "Provisional" Sinn Féin, but after 1982 it was known simply as "Sinn Féin"; it continued to abstain from taking seats won in all institutions.
Sinn Féin split in 1986, as in 1970, over whether to take seats in Dáil Éireann. The larger group led byGerry Adams abandoned abstentionism, whileRepublican Sinn Féin (RSF), led byRuairí Ó Brádaigh, retained it. Sinn Féin's first sittingTeachta Dála wasCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin, elected inCavan–Monaghan at the1997 general election.
RSF has retained the policy of abstentionism from both Dáil Éireann and theNorthern Ireland Assembly.
After Partition, most non-abstentionist parties in the southern state did not organise at all in Northern Ireland. In early 1922, theProvisional Government of the Irish Free State was seen as representing the interests of nationalists in Northern Ireland and had a policy of not recognising the Northern Irish government. Catholic bishopJoseph MacRory (who later became Archbishop of Armagh and a Cardinal) indicated to the Provisional Government thatJoe Devlin and his party members wanted to enter the newParliament of Northern Ireland, and was worried that the policy of non-recognition would result in Northern Irish nationalists having to "fight alone", but his advice was ignored.[31]
Abstentionismat local elections was effectively prohibited by a 1934 law requiring candidates to take an oath to attend council sessions.[32]
TheNationalist Party did not take their seats during thefirst Stormont parliament (1921–1925). Despite forming the second-largestparliamentary party, they did not accept the role ofOpposition for a further forty years. They did so on 2 February 1965 but withdrew from opposition again in October 1968, two weeks after police batoned demonstrators at acivil rights march in Derry on 5 October 1968.[33]
Cahir Healy was elected to both the Stormont and Westminster parliaments under a variety of nationalist labels between the 1920s and the 1960s. He was abstentionist in Stormont until 1927 and at Westminster from 1950 to 1952.[34][35] In the 1930s, Healy led theIrish Union Association, which supported his policy of intermittent tactical abstentionism, whereas the otherwise-similarNorthern Council for Unity regarded abstentionism as a principle.[36]
From 1953, Stormont candidates were required to take theBritish oath of allegiance before standing, precluding Sinn Féin from doing so.[37] This did not apply at Westminster elections, where Sinn Féin often gave non-Sinn Féin abstentionist nationalists a free run to avoidsplitting the nationalist vote, but conversely fielded aspoiler candidate against non-abstentionist nationalists.[37]
TheSocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) became the Opposition on its formation on 21 August 1970 but that party withdrew from Stormont in July 1971. The SDLP participated inthe assembly set up for theSunningdale Agreement, and in theConstitutional Convention. It originally intended toboycott the election to the1982 Assembly, but adopted abstentionism to avoid giving a free run to Sinn Féin.[38] Brian Feeney suggests that Sinn Féin's "active abstention", where those elected acted as local spokespeople in the media, was more effective than the SDLP's policy of sending its representatives instead to theNew Ireland Forum in Dublin.[39] The SDLP's participation in the 1996–98Northern Ireland Forum was intermittent.
Sinn Féin adopted the "Armalite and ballot box strategy" in 1981, and first contested modern elections in Northern Ireland with the1982 Assembly elections, from which they abstained. The 1983ardfheis resolved to take seats in theEuropean Parliament, as the 1985 ardfheis did forthat year's local elections.[40] Sinn Féin abstained from theNorthern Ireland Forum.
Since the establishment of theNorthern Ireland Assembly under the 1998Good Friday Agreement, both the SDLP and Sinn Féin have taken their seats in that body. SDLP MPs have consistently taken their seats in Westminster, in contrast to Sinn Féin MPs, who refuse to take their seats there. Sinn Féin MPs believe that as British political institutions should play no part in governing the people of Ireland, they as MPs should not make decisions on behalf of British people.[41]
Fianna Fáil's sole Stormont election camein 1933, when its leaderÉamon de Valera agreed to stand as an abstentionist forSouth Down, where he had been a Sinn Féin MP in the 1920s.[42][43] Fianna Fáil registered as a political party within Northern Ireland in 2007. In 2014 its leaderMícheál Martin announced it would contest elections from 2019.[44] It has not made clear whether it will contest elections to Westminster.
Republican Sinn Féin continue their long standing policy of abstentionism. It is not a registered party in Northern Ireland, but members have contested the Assembly elections asindependents. WhenSaoradh, adissident republican party, was established in 2016, it had not decided whether to contest elections, but said it would in any case abstain from taking up any seats won in Stormont, Westminster or Leinster House.[45]
After the2017 UK general election, which resulted in ahung parliament with theConservatives formingan agreement with theDUP, Gerry Adams reiterated Sinn Féin's long-standing position that their elected MPs would not swearallegiance to the monarch nor take their seats in Westminster.[46]
Some British political activists were themselves inspired bySinn Féin's policy of abstentionism, one of which was the Glaswegian anarcho-communistGuy Aldred, who advised the Scottish socialist politicianJohn Maclean to adopt the "Sinn Féin tactic" during the1918 United Kingdom general election, citing a passage fromThe Civil War in France in whichKarl Marx charged that "the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made State machinery, and wield it for its own purposes". Aldred proposed the fielding of communist candidates on an abstentionist platform, outlining that:[47]
Successful candidates would not go to parliament, but would remain in their constituencies till they had aquorum, then they would constitute anassembly, insisting on the right to represent the district which elected them. Thus adual authority is established[,] which could possibly spread like wild-fire, as these innovations do, and eventually challenge thestate.[48]
Aldred additionally proposed the organisation of anelection boycott or the use of elections as little more than astraw poll to gauge support for the communist movement, both tactics which he supported alongside that of abstentionism.[49] By 1919, Aldred's call to abstentionism was also taken up bySylvia Pankhurst'sWorkers' Socialist Federation, which took an anti-parliamentary line even against the wishes of theBolsheviks in theThird International,[50] andE. T. Whitehead's Labour Abstentionist Party,[51] which would both become founding organisations of theCommunist Party.[52] To contrast, the Bolsheviks criticised abstentionism and advocated for the creation of "a new, unusual, non-opportunist, non-careerist parliamentarism", a tactic which they described as "revolutionary parliamentarism".[53] Disillusioned withBolshevism, Pankhurst's group later joined theCommunist Workers' International and reaffirmed their commitment to abstentionism,[54] while Aldred himself established theAnti-Parliamentary Communist Federation[55] and ran in the1922 election for the seat ofGlasgow Shettleston on an abstentionist platform (winning only 1.9% of the vote).[56] Aldred's election run was criticised by Pankhurst herself who, despite by this point having moved to a policy of electoral boycott, supported the candidacy of John MacLean'sScottish Workers' Republican Party.[57] AfterWorld War II, Aldred contested the1945 general election on an abstentionist platform, this time for the seat ofGlasgow Central as a member of theUnited Socialist Movement, netting only 300 votes.[58]
Following the2022 Quebec general election, members of theParti Quebecois were denied their seats in theNational Assembly of Quebec by speakerNathalie Roy after they refused to swear theOath of Allegiance to KingCharles III.[59] The requirement to swear the oath was later removed.
TheHouse of Representatives inMaine provides non-voting seats to delegates from threeNative American tribes: thePenobscot,Passamaquoddy, andMaliseet; since 2015, the Maliseet and Penobscot have refused to send delegates in protest over issues oftribal sovereignty.[60]
In 1934 Stormont banned Sinn Fein from taking part in local elections, since it refused to take an oath to attend sessions.
Healy, who had previously been elected on an abstentionist ticket, would ultimately take up his seat at Westminster in 1952.
