Politicians and Electoral Laws: An Anthropology of Party Competition in Ireland

Abstract

At one level this paper constitutes an electoral anthropology of party competition in Ireland. Focusing on one constituency, over three decades, the analysis reveals the complex and intertwined patterns of inter-party and intra-party competition that characterize Irish electoral politics and which, now institutionalized, contribute to the conservative cast of the country's politics. At a second level the argument points to the importance of the electoral system (here Proportional Representation by the single transferable vote) in structuring the behaviours of politicians who must work within it. In this regard an electoral system affects both the quality and quantity of competition, the character of party organization, and the capacity of a political system to recruit talent.