How to involve citizens in the process of political reform

January 24, 2012

Posted by David Farrell (January 24, 2012)

In an interesting piece in today’s Irish Times (see here), Peadar Kirby and Mary P. Murphy make a persuasive case for involving ordinary citizens in the constitutional convention that the government is anticipated to establish in the very near future.

While they take issue with the approach proposed by We The Citizens (which some of us involved in this blog were also involved with), they share the same fundamental ambition of actively engaging with citizens in the process of political and constitutional reform that this government has promised (and hopefully will start delivering on soon). Read the rest of this entry »

58 Comments | New Republic | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell

A new book on ‘the second Republic’

November 1, 2011

Posted by David Farrell (November 1, 2011)

Here’s the link for the new book by Peadar Kirby and Mary P. Murphy, entitled Towards a Second Republic: Irish Politics after the Celtic Tiger (Pluto, 2011). The blurb reads as follows:

Towards a Second Republic analyses Ireland’s economics, politics and society, drawing important lessons from its cycles of boom and bust. Peadar Kirby and Mary Murphy expose the winners and losers from the current Irish model of development and relates these distributional outcomes to the use of power by Irish elites. The authors examine the role of the EU and compare Ireland’s crisis and responses to those of other states.  More than just an analysis of the economic disaster in Ireland, the book is also a proposal to construct new and more effective institutions for the economy and society. It is a must read for students of Irish politics and political economy.

20 Comments | New Republic | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell

Changing framework for a new civic Republic

October 5, 2011

The left wing think tank Tasc yesterday released a series of essays. One was written anonymously allegedly by a senior civil servant. The Irish Times reported on it here. Much of the language is similar to posters on here. It derides a culture of secrecy, and argues that our inherited political, institutional and legal framework is no longer ‘fit for purpose’ (if it ever was) to permit Irish Society to re-create itself. It poses interesting questions and attempts to provide some answers.

9 Comments | Constitution, freedom of information, Government reform, New Republic, Political culture | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter

Internet Win – Wikipedia entry on ‘Citizens’ Assembly’

August 22, 2011

I recall studying the Enlightenment in West European history and being fascinated by Diderot’s Encyclopédie project. It was an amazing effort and achievement in its own right, but can really only be understood in the broader context of Enlightement goals and values, perhaps best explained by Kant in his essay: ‘An Answer to the Question: “What is Enlightenment?”

Kant explains his thesis in an admirably succint manner in the essay’s first line: ‘Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity’. Knowledge and reason can allow us to take greater control of our own individual and collective destiny – rather than remaining passive and fearful. However, one’s capacity to learn is limited by available resources, and the media is often skewed in its presentation of the political world.

Read the rest of this entry »

14 Comments | Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, European Union, Government reform, New Republic | Permalink
Posted by Matthew Wall

So, what’s next?

August 13, 2011

Post by David Farrell (August 13, 2011)

As reported in earlier posts on this blog, this government has made some quite impressive progress on implementing the political reform proposals proposed in its Programme for Government. They’ve made a good start. But, arguably most of this has been the low-hanging fruit, the relatively easy targets. We’ve still to see the real meat of reform. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments | Constitution, Electoral Reform, Government reform, New Republic | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell

According to Minister Howlin political reform is still high on the agenda

July 11, 2011

post by David Farrell (July 11, 2011)

It’s a pity that the media gave scant if any coverage to an important speech by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform at a Labour party meeting on July 2. The full text of Brendan Howlin’s speech is here. Read the rest of this entry »

6 Comments | Constitution, Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, Government reform, New Republic, Votes at 16 | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell

2nd Republic – Designing A Citizen Assembly

June 9, 2011

By Oliver Moran

A surprising aspect of the debate on political reform over the past few months is that discussion has been not only on the question of what needs to change but also on how we are to answer that question. It is possibly a consequence of the seriousness of the situation that we found ourselves in that the need for reform appears to be accepted and so the question falls onto a) what reforms and b) who decides. Furthermore, the second question demonstrates a seriousness to answer the first and a determination to answer it correctly.

The editors of this website have long advocated a Citizen’s Assembly as a means to decide on reforms. The ‘We the Citizens’ initiative is in the act of demonstrating the value of these kind of deliberative processes. One of those benefits is the legitimacy that they give to decisions that arise from them. Do we really want to look back in a decade’s time and see the decisions made during this time of change through the lens of ‘cui bono’ (‘who benefits’)? For the less conspiratorial minded, do we want to look back and ask if the fullest possible discussion took place? Will we be satisfied to know that  decisions were arrived at through the intercourse of a (well-meaning) few? Who decides on reform is as central a question as which reforms. Read the rest of this entry »

9 Comments | Constitution, Judicial reform, New Republic | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter

What is a Citizens’ Assembly?

May 8, 2011

Posted by Elaine Byrne

The editors of this website, Elaine Byrne, David Farrell, Eoin O’Malley, Jane Suiter and Matt Wall, published an opinion piece in the Irish Times today arguing that the path to rebuilding a Republic should start with a citizens’ assembly. So what is it?

A Citizens’ Assembly is a means of citizens recapturing trust in their political process by taking ownership of the decision making process. It is an experiment that has had terrific results in many parts of the world. The strengths and shortcomings of this deliberative process were discussed on this site here and the recent Icelandic case here. Prof Ken Carty gave a recent presentationin Trinity outlining a practical example of a citizens’ assembly in action.

It involves rational, reasoned discussion with a cross- section of an entire population and uses various methods of inquiry such as directly questioning experts. It is not adversarial, although disagreement is inevitable and is valued, not stifled. A Citizens’ Assembly values creativity and tends to build consensus rather than creating winning and losing sides – but there is no requirement of unanimity. Deliberative processes are not meant to replace representative or direct democracy, but to enhance and support it.

Read the rest of this entry »

86 Comments | New party politics, New Republic | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Editors

Want reform? Then make it happen!

May 3, 2011

By Matt Wall, May 3rd, 2011.

In the recent election campaign, political reform finally entered the agenda of mainstream Irish politics. Given the awful political and economic mess in which the country currently finds itself, this is not surprising. However, political promises during an election campaign are not always a reliable guide as to the actions that will be taken in office. In fact, anyone who read the previous program for government in 2007 might feel that they’ve heard similar promises before. The FF/Green/PD 2007 program for government contained promises to improve local government, to foster civic participation, and to pursue electoral and political funding reform via the establishment of an electoral commission. Needless to say, these words turned out to be utterly empty in terms of practical consequences.

Read the rest of this entry »

61 Comments | Constitution, Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, Government reform, New Republic, Political culture, Politics, Referenda | Permalink
Posted by Matthew Wall

Will the new government change politics?

March 10, 2011

Eoin O’Malley (10 March, 2011)

For much of the election campaign parties promised that there would be a change to the way politics was done. This continued to the first day of the 31st Dáil. But will it? One way to judge the government is by the programme for government, and another by its actions. Read the rest of this entry »

43 Comments | Dail Reform, Government reform, New Republic, Politics | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Eoin O'Malley

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