Fianna Fáil: the art of adaptive survival

Abstract

ABSTRACTFor over eight decades, Fianna Fáil demonstrated a remarkable capacity for successful adaptation to cope with a turbulent and increasingly uncertain electoral environment. Unlike many dominant parties that rely principally on state resources to bolster their organizational reach, Fianna Fáil has demonstrated a knack for adapting to challenges in more nuanced and variegated ways to reinforce its long-term advantages within the Irish party system. This article highlights two overarching strategic adaptations, in particular. First, it underscores how Fianna Fáil’s capacity for ideological adaptation has contributed to constraining the electoral arena, thereby preventing minor parties from successfully claiming hot-button issues and instead re-directing competition towards the their party’s relative ability to deliver goods and services locally. Second, it places in high relief Fianna Fail’s capacity to employ extra-parliamentary institutional adaptations within the Irish political system, including the national system of wage bargaining, referenda, and tribunals at times when it suits the party electorally. Taking into account these adaptive strategies is essential for understanding Fianna Fáil’s uncanny electoral staying power.