The recent election must have been a major disappointment to the Liberal Democrats but that doesn’t matter because they have the ‘whip-hand’ in government formation. The party has ‘walk-away value’. If they don’t like a deal with the Conservatives they have other options (Labour & LibDems, with SDLP and Alliance brings you to 320). The…
The British first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP; often referred to as single member plurality) is long past its sell by date. The most recent wave of democratic consolidation across East and Central Europe, Central and Southern America, and parts of Africa have witnessed an explosion of interest in electoral system design. And some established democracies –…
By David Stanton TD It is clear to everyone that our parliamentary system needs reform. Dáil Éireann in its current state is not fit for purpose. Fine Gael recently published a policy document “New Politics” which sets out wide-ranging proposals for Dáil reform including the abolition of the Seanad. We have not addressed the electoral…
Here is an article from the Irish Times today outlining what we have all long suspected that senior Irish cabinet ministers indulge in a peculiarly Irish form of pork barrel, directing funds at their home constituencies. Voters are assumed to vote for candidates who have a good chance of becoming a minister in order to…
By Michael Gallagher Leaving aside the broader issue of electoral reform (I’ve put some thoughts on this here), the question of how to fill casual vacancies has been discussed. At present, by-elections are used to fill such vacancies, and this has been criticised as an anomalous way of filling vacancies arising under a PR system.…
By Michael Gallagher The novelty of the leaders’ debates at the 2010 British general election has focused attention on this aspect of election campaigns, especially given the sudden surge in Lib Dem support in mid-April after party leader Nick Clegg was widely adjudged the winner of the first debate. Not surprisingly, the Labour Party here…
I have recently returned from a research fieldtrip to Australia. The following is an extract of an article of mine from The Irish Examiner, April 2 2010. I have examined the experience of the Australian Senate, of interest in Ireland because of Fine Gael’s proposals to abolish the upper house. (Given the likelihood of a…
The following is taken from an article of mine in The Irish Examiner, April 9 2010. It may be of interest considering the Tasmanian experience of PR-STV. THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAIL The first thing that struck me about Australian politicians is their responsiveness. Last January I e-mailed a large number of parliamentarians, both past…
Before last Thursday’s leaders’ debate the LibDems privately conceded they’d lose some seats to the Tories on May 6th. Their best case scenario was that they’d be in the position of King-maker in a hung parliament and the price of their (external) support would be electoral reform. However, it’s probable that any party would have to offer…
By David Gwynn Morgan, Professor of Law, University College Cork Recently, the President of the High Court (Kearns P) announced that the long-awaited judicial council for standards and conduct might be set up this year (Irish Times, April 12). Surprisingly, the present system is still the one which grew up in reaction to the absolute monarchs…
Irish Politics Forum 