Independents in Irish party democracy

Abstract

While in almost all competitive political systems parties are omnipotent at elections, in Ireland independents (non-party MPs) remain significant players. At the Irish general election in 2016, independents won 23 of the 157 contested seats, proportionally the highest level of elected independent representation in the national parliament of any established democracy since 1950, and more than the combined total in all other industrial democracies. Not only have independents in Ireland persisted, but they have also had a significant political impact. Regularly holding the balance of power as kingmakers in hung parliaments where no party or coalition has an overall majority, independents have been able to use this position to extract policy influence. The purpose of the book is to examine and explain this persistence of the independent phenomenon in a stable party democracy. With Ireland as the primary case, but also using comparative data, it assesses how and why independents can endure in a democracy that is one of the oldest surviving in Europe and has historically had one of the most stable party systems. The central premise is that it is due to the permissiveness of the Irish political system, in terms of a conducive political culture and institutions, electoral record and key relevance, which all combine to facilitate independents’ emergence.