Punch Bags for Heavyweights? Minor Parties in Irish Government

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6074847
AutoresEoin O’malley, Eoin O''Malley (0000-0002-9548-5666, autor correspondente)
Ano2010
Volume25
Fascículo4
Páginas539-561
Data de publicação2010-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoIrish Political Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0790-7184 • E-ISSN: 1743-9078
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07907184.2010.518696
OpenAlexW2111644620
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas28

While for much of the twentieth century Irish governments consisted of single parties, coalition government is now much more common. Furthermore, it is usual for minor parties to be part of these governments. This article looks at why minor parties come into existence, their policy performance in government and the electoral impact of government on minor parties. It is argued that the three are related – that minor parties emerge when larger parties have problems of policy ‘appropriateness’ (a large party is not seen as credible to deliver or cannot advocate certain non‐mainstream policies) and ‘governability’ (a larger party is not widely seen as an acceptable/credible basis for a potential government). Larger parties take minor parties into government to solve both problems and ‘concede’ policy to them, which may have the effect of ‘smothering’ the minor party in government, leading to its demise

Demise · Economics · Government (linguistics · Irish · Mainstream · Major and minor · Minor (academic · Political economy · Political science · Scrutiny · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Irish and British Studies · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Law · Public Administration