Punch Bags for Heavyweights? Minor Parties in Irish Government

Abstract

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.