Posted by David Farrell (January 20, 2012)
In a spirited opinion piece in today’s Irish Times, Daniel Sullivan takes issue with gender quotas (see here), describing the idea variously as wrong, unworkable and even ‘boneheaded’. He appears to have three main problems with the proposal. Read the rest of this entry »
14 Comments | 
women in politics | Tagged: gender quotas, Women | 
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Posted by David Farrell
By Claire McGing (John and Pat Hume scholar and Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences scholar (IRCHSS), NUI Maynooth)
Studies of political recruitment in liberal democracies show the importance of active party membership as a formal and/or informal requirement in enhancing the chances of an aspirant being successful in the selection process. In systems of decentralised candidate selection (such as in Ireland), longtime party members can develop a strong network of fellow party activists who will in turn vote for them at the convention stage and mobilise other members to do the same. A long history of party activism can also be a considerable advantage when the selection procedure is instead at the hands of the party elite. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | women in politics | Permalink
Posted by Claire McGing
By Jane Suiter
The Irish Times reports today that parties will be financially penalised if they fail to nominate sufficient women.
12 Comments | women in politics | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
By Claire McGing (John and Pat Hume scholar and Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences scholar (IRCHSS), NUI Maynooth)
Electoral politics inIrelandis a highly masculine realm. In total, only 91 women deputies have been elected since the foundation of the State (Buckley and McGing, forthcoming). The country currently has one of the worst gender balances in its parliament in the democratic world. Following the 2011 general election, women hold 25 seats out of 166 in the 31st Dáil, representing a figure of just 15.1%. Although low, this is a record high for the number of women elected in a general election inIreland. Progress in the lower house has been extremely slow to transpire in recent years. Significant progress was made between 1977 and 1992 where the percentage of female TDs increased from 4.1 to 12%. However, progress since then has remained generally static, with only five more women TDs elected in 2011 than had been in 1992.
16 Comments | Dail Reform, Election, Electoral Reform, Government reform, Political culture, women in politics | Permalink
Posted by Claire McGing
By Jane Suiter
Political reform ran a poll here for a number of weeks, it has taken a little time to report the findings for which I apologise. We received some 485 responses to the poll with people from 16 to 65 responding from most counties across the country. These are of course not nationally representative but are probably representative of those that read this site. Some of the results make for interesting reading with unsurprisingly an appetite for political reform, some of it quite radical. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, Government reform, Seanad Reform, Uncategorized, women in politics | Tagged: cabinet government, citizens' assemblies, constitutional reform, institutional reform, Political reform, STV | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
Jennifer Kavanagh (7th May 2011)
This week Minister Hogan annouced plans to reduce the number of TDs in Dail Eireann:
“Minister Hogan said: “The new Government intends to lead by example and start change at the top. Irish politics needs to start delivering for the Irish people and this Government is determined to make real, tangible reforms which will make the political system leaner and more efficient for its citizens. As part of that agenda, the terms of reference for the Constituency Commission will be changed to provide for a reduced number of TDs. A Constituency Commission is due to be established upon the publication of the 2011 Census preliminary results, which are due in June. That Commission will report within three months of the publication of final census results in 2012.”[i] Read the rest of this entry »
12 Comments | Constitution, Dail Reform, Politics, Referenda, women in politics | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer Kavanagh
From Jane Suiter
Reformcard – the political reform scorecard developed for election 2011 – has scored all the political parties. We evaluated each Parties’ proposals in five categories of political reform – Oireachtas reform, Electoral reform, Open Government reform, Public Sector reform and Local Government reform. Details on each are set out below. Read the rest of this entry »
24 Comments | Committee System, Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, freedom of information, Government reform, Local Government, New Republic, Seanad Reform, Strategic Policy Planning, Votes at 16, votes for emigrants, women in politics | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
The editors and contributors behind polticalreform.ie have teamed with a large volunteer team of project managers, web designers and others to produce ReformCard a measurement tool to rank each party based on the quality of their policies on political reform. We hope this will prove a critical instrument in informing the election 2011 debate. It provides the 25 proposals for political reform in Ireland which we believe provide the best possible combination to transform the political system and ensure it is fit for purpose in the 21st century. Read the rest of this entry »
20 Comments | Committee System, Constitution, Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, Government reform, Lobbying, Local Government, New Republic, Referenda, Seanad Reform, Strategic Policy Planning, Votes at 16, votes for emigrants, women in politics | Tagged: accountability, cabinet government, Ceann Comhairle, constitutional reform, Dáil reform, Department of Finance, Electoral Reform, Lobbying, ministerial responsibility, women in politics | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
Posted by David Farrell on behalf of the 50:50 Group (January 31, 2011)
Dear Deputy,
The 50:50 Group is a single issue national advocacy group that has come together to campaign for equal political representation in Irish Politics. Our desire for change reflects the public mood to move to a more inclusive form of politics. We are encouraged by your party’s publicly stated intention to reform and renew political structures and to put in place a new type of politics. Read the rest of this entry »
46 Comments | Electoral Reform, women in politics | Tagged: gender quotas, women in politics | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell
Guest Post By Daniel Sullivan
In this piece, I’m going to try to outline two of the problems in how the electoral system currently functions, coupled with some of the practical realities that accompany them, and then suggest two forms of electoral change that would actually address those problems. These problems and from which almost all others, in my view, stem is a lack of real diversity being offered to the electorate in our parliamentary and local administrative elections and a surfeit of clientelism. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, Government reform, Political culture, Seanad Reform, women in politics | Tagged: Electoral Reform, Government Reform, Political reform | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
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