The United Kingdom is a unitary democracy governed
within the framework of a constitutional
monarchy, in which the Monarch is
the head of state and
the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is
the head
of government. Executive power is
exercised by Her Majesty's Government, on behalf of
and by the consent of the Monarch, as well as by the devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales, and
the Northern
Ireland Executive. Legislative power is
vested in the two chambers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the House
of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as
in the Scottish
parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies. The judiciary is
independent of the executive and the legislature. The highest court is
the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
The UK
political system is a multi-party system. Since the 1920s, the two
largest political participation have been the Conservative
Party and the Labour Party. Before the Labour Party rose in British politics,
the Liberal Party was the
other major political party along with the Conservatives. Though coalition and minority governments have been an occasional
feature of parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general
elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has
in the past century relied upon a third
party such as the Liberal Democrats to
deliver a working majority in Parliament. A Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition
government held office from 2010 until 2015, the first coalition since 1945. The coalition ended following Parliamentary
elections on May 7, 2015, in which the Conservative Party won an outright
majority of 330 seats in the House of Commons, while their coalition partners
lost all but eight seats.
With the partition
of Ireland, Northern Ireland received
home rule in 1920, though civil unrest meant
direct rule was restored in 1972. Support for nationalist parties in Scotland
and Wales led to proposals for devolution in the
1970s though only in the 1990s did devolution actually happen. Today, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each
possess a legislature and executive, with devolution in Northern Ireland being
conditional on participation in certain
all-Ireland institutions. The United Kingdom remains responsible for
non-devolved matters and, in the case of Northern Ireland, co-operates with
the Republic
of Ireland.
It is a matter
of dispute as to whether increased autonomy and devolution of executive and legislative
powers has contributed to the increase in support for independence. The
principal pro-independence party, the Scottish
National Party, became a minority government in 2007 and then went
on to win an overall majority of MSPs at the
2011 Scottish parliament elections and forms the Scottish
Government administration. A 2014 referendum on independence led to a rejection of the
proposal, but with 45% voting to secede. In Northern Ireland, the largest Pro-Belfast Agreement party,
Sinn Féin, not only advocates Northern Ireland's unification with the Republic
of Ireland, but also abstains from taking their elected seats in the Westminster
government, as this would entail taking a pledge of allegiance to the British
monarch.
The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified, being made
up of constitutional conventions, statutes and other elements such as EU law. This system of
government, known as the Westminster system, has been
adopted by other countries, especially those that were formerly parts of
the British
Empire.
The United
Kingdom is also responsible for several dependencies, which fall into two
categories: the Crown dependencies, in the
immediate vicinity of the UK, and British
Overseas Territories, which originated as colonies of the British Empire.
1. Government, Administration and Law
Executive power in the
United Kingdom is exercised by the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth
II, via Her Majesty's Government and the
devolved national authorities - the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government and
the Northern
Ireland Executive.
A. The United Kingdom Government - the monarch
appoints a Prime Minister as the
head of Her Majesty's
Government in the United Kingdom, guided by the strict convention that the Prime
Minister should be the member of the House of Commons most likely to be able to
form a Government with the support of that House. In practice, this means that
the leader of the political
party with an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons is chosen
to be the Prime Minister. If no party has an absolute majority, the leader of
the largest party is given the first opportunity to form a coalition. The Prime
Minister then selects the other Ministers which
make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government
Departments. About twenty of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet and
approximately 100 ministers in total comprise the government. In accordance
with constitutional
convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in
the House of Lords.
As in some
other parliamentary systems of
government (especially those based upon the Westminster
System), the executive (called "the government") is drawn from and is
answerable to Parliament - a successful vote of no confidence will
force the government either to resign or to seek a parliamentary dissolution and
a general election. In practice,
members of parliament of all major parties are strictly controlled by whips who try
to ensure they vote according to party policy. If the government has a large
majority, then they are very unlikely to lose enough votes to be unable to pass
legislation.
The
Prime Minister and the Cabinet - the Prime Minister is the most
senior minister in the Cabinet. He or she is responsible for chairing Cabinet
meetings, selecting Cabinet ministers (and all other positions in Her Majesty's
government), and formulating government policy. The Prime Minister being the de
facto leader of the UK, he or she exercises executive functions that are
nominally vested in the sovereign (by way of the Royal Prerogatives).
Historically, the British monarch was the sole source of executive powers in
the government. However, following the lead of the Hanoverian monarchs, an
arrangement of a "Prime Minister" chairing and leading the Cabinet
began to emerge. Over time, this arrangement became the effective executive
branch of government, as it assumed the day-to-day functioning of the British
government away from the sovereign.
Theoretically,
the Prime Minister is primus inter pares (,i.e. Latin for
"first among equals") among their Cabinet colleagues. While the Prime
Minister is the senior Cabinet Minister, they are theoretically bound to make
executive decisions in a collective fashion with the other Cabinet ministers.
The Cabinet, along with the PM, consists of Secretaries of State from the
various government departments, the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord
Privy Seal, the President of the Board of Trade, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Ministers without portfolio. Cabinet
meetings are typically held weekly, while Parliament is in session.
Government
departments and the Civil Service - the Government
of the United Kingdom contains a number of ministries known
mainly, though not exclusively as departments, e.g., Department for Education. These are
politically led by a Government Minister who is
often a Secretary of State and
member of the Cabinet. He or she
may also be supported by a number of junior Ministers. In practice, several
government departments and Ministers have responsibilities that cover England
alone, with devolved bodies having responsibility for Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland, (for example - the Department of Health), or
responsibilities that mainly focus on England (such as the Department for Education).
Implementation
of the Minister's decisions is carried out by a permanent politically neutral
organisation known as the civil service. Its
constitutional role is to support the Government of the day regardless of which
political party is in power. Unlike some other democracies, senior civil
servants remain in post upon a change of Government. Administrative management
of the Department is led by a head civil servant known in most Departments as
a Permanent Secretary. The majority
of the civil service staff in fact work in executive
agencies, which are separate operational organisations reporting to Departments of
State.
B. Legislatures - the UK
Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom (i.e., there
is parliamentary sovereignty), and
Government is drawn from and answerable to it. Parliament is bicameral, consisting
of the House
of Commons and the House
of Lords. There is also a devolved Scottish Parliament and devolved Assemblies in
Wales and Northern Ireland, with varying degrees of legislative authority.
UK
Parliament
House of Commons
Parliament meets at the Palace of Westminster
The Countries
of the United Kingdom are divided into parliamentary constituencies of
broadly equal population by the four Boundary
Commissions. Each constituency elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to
the House of Commons at General Elections and, if required, at by-elections. As
of 2010 there are 650 constituencies (there were 646 before that year's general election). Of the 650
MPs, all but one - Lady Sylvia
Hermon - belong to a political
party.
In modern
times, all Prime Ministers and Leaders of the
Opposition have been drawn from the Commons, not the Lords. Alec
Douglas-Home resigned from his peerages days after becoming
Prime Minister in 1963, and the last Prime Minister before him from the Lords
left in 1902 (the Marquess
of Salisbury).
One party
usually has a majority in Parliament, because of the use of the First Past the Post electoral system, which has
been conducive in creating the current two
party system. The monarch normally asks a person commissioned to
form a government simply whether it can survive in the House
of Commons, something which majority governments are expected to be able to do.
In exceptional circumstances the monarch asks someone to 'form a government' with
a parliamentary minority which in the
event of no party having a majority requires the formation of a coalition government. This option
is only ever taken at a time of national emergency, such as war-time. It was
given in 1916 to Andrew Bonar Law, and when he declined, to David
Lloyd George and in 1940 to Winston
Churchill. A government is not formed by a vote of the House of Commons, it is a
commission from the monarch. The House of Commons gets its first chance to
indicate confidence in the new government when it votes on the Speech from the Throne (the
legislative programme proposed by the new government).
House of Lords
The House of Lords was previously a largely hereditary aristocratic chamber, although including life peers, and Lords Spiritual. It is currently mid-way through extensive reforms, the most recent of these being enacted in the House of Lords Act 1999. The house consists of two very different types of member, the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual. Lords Temporal include appointed members (life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the house) and ninety-two remaining hereditary peers, elected from among, and by, the holders of titles which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords. The Lords Spiritual represent the established Church of England and number twenty-six: the Five Ancient Sees (Canterbury, York, London, Winchester and Durham), and the 21 next-most senior bishops.
The House of Lords was previously a largely hereditary aristocratic chamber, although including life peers, and Lords Spiritual. It is currently mid-way through extensive reforms, the most recent of these being enacted in the House of Lords Act 1999. The house consists of two very different types of member, the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual. Lords Temporal include appointed members (life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the house) and ninety-two remaining hereditary peers, elected from among, and by, the holders of titles which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords. The Lords Spiritual represent the established Church of England and number twenty-six: the Five Ancient Sees (Canterbury, York, London, Winchester and Durham), and the 21 next-most senior bishops.
The House of
Lords currently acts to review legislation initiated by the House of Commons,
with the power to propose amendments, and can exercise a suspensive
veto. This allows it to delay legislation if it does not approve it for twelve
months. However, the use of vetoes is limited by convention and by the operation
of the Parliament
Acts 1911 and 1949: the Lords may not veto the "money bills"
or major manifesto promises (see Salisbury convention). Persistent
use of the veto can also be overturned by the Commons, under a provision of
the Parliament
Act 1911. Often governments will accept changes in legislation in order to avoid
both the time delay, and the negative publicity of being seen to clash with the
Lords. However the Lords still retain a full veto in acts which would extend
the life of Parliament beyond the 5-year term limit introduced by the
Parliament Act 1911.
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 outlined
plans for a Supreme
Court of the United Kingdom to replace the role of the Law Lords.
The House of
Lords was replaced as the final court of appeal on civil cases within the
United Kingdom on 1 October 2009, by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Devolved
national legislatures - though the UK
parliament remains the sovereign parliament, Scotland has a
parliament and Wales and Northern Ireland have
assemblies. De jure, each could
have its powers broadened, narrowed or changed by an Act of the UK Parliament.
The UK is a unitary state with a
devolved system of government. This contrasts with a federal system,
in which sub-parliaments or state parliaments and assemblies have a clearly
defined constitutional right to exist and a right to
exercise certain constitutionally guaranteed and defined functions and cannot
be unilaterally abolished by Acts of the central parliament.
All three devolved
institutions are elected by proportional
representation: the Additional
Member System is used in Scotland and Wales, and Single Transferable Vote is used
in Northern Ireland.
England, therefore,
is the only country in the UK not to have its
own devolved parliament. However, senior politicians of all main parties have
voiced concerns in regard to the West
Lothian Question, which is raised where certain policies for
England are set by MPs from all four constituent nations whereas similar
policies for Scotland or Wales might be decided in the devolved assemblies by
legislators from those countries alone. Alternative proposals for English regional government
have stalled, following a poorly received referendum on devolved government for
the North
East of England, which had hitherto been considered the region most
in favour of the idea, with the exception of Cornwall, where there
is widespread support for a Cornish Assembly, including
all five Cornish MPs. England
is therefore governed according to the balance of parties across the whole of
the United Kingdom.
The government
has no plans to establish an English parliament or assembly although several
pressure groups are calling
for one. One of their main arguments is that MPs (and thus voters) from
different parts of the UK have inconsistent powers. Currently an MP from
Scotland can vote on legislation which affects only England but MPs from
England (or indeed Scotland) cannot vote on matters devolved to the Scottish
parliament. Indeed, the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is an MP
for a Scottish constituency, introduced some laws that only affect England and
not his own constituency. This anomaly is known as the West Lothian question.
The policy of
the UK Government in England was to establish elected regional assemblies with no
legislative powers. The London Assembly was the
first of these, established in 2000, following a referendum in 1998,
but further plans were abandoned following rejection of a proposal for an
elected assembly in North East England in a referendum in 2004.
Unelected regional assemblies remain in place in eight regions of England.
C. Political parties
2005 election results by age group: voters for Conservative (blue), Labour
(red), Lib Dem (yellow), other parties (green); and those not voting (grey).
There are two
main parties in the United Kingdom: the Conservative Party, and the Labour
Party. The Scottish National Party is the third party in terms of representatives
elected and party membership.
The modern
Conservative Party was founded in 1834 and is an outgrowth of the Tory movement
or party, which began in 1678. Today it is still colloquially referred to as
the Tory Party and its members as Tories. The Liberal Democrats
were formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a
Labour breakaway formed in 1981. The Liberals and SDP had contested elections
together as the SDP–Liberal Alliance for
seven years before. The modern Liberal Party had been founded in 1859 as an
outgrowth of the Whig movement
or party (which began at the same time as the Tory party and was its historical
rival) as well as the Radical and Peelite tendencies.
The Liberal
Party was one of the two dominant parties (along with the Conservatives) from
its founding until the 1920s, when it rapidly declined and was supplanted on
the left by the
Labour Party, which was founded in 1900 and formed its first government in
1924. Since that time, the Labour and Conservatives parties have been dominant,
with the Liberals (later Liberal Democrats) being the third largest party until
2015, when they lost 48 of their 57 seats, while the Scottish National Party went
from 6 seats to 56. Founded in 1934, the SNP advocates for Scottish
independence and has had continuous representation in
Parliament since 1967. The SNP currently leads a majority government in the Scottish
Parliament.
2. The Royal Institution in the UK
The British Monarch,
currently Queen
Elizabeth II, is the Chief of State of the United Kingdom. Though she
takes little direct part in government, the Crown remains the fount in which
ultimate executive power over Government lies. These powers are known as Royal Prerogative and can
be used for a vast amount of things, such as the issue or withdrawal of
passports, to the dismissal of the Prime Minister or even the Declaration of
War. The powers are delegated from the Monarch personally, in the name of the
Crown, and can be handed to various ministers, or other Officers of the Crown,
and can purposely bypass the consent of Parliament.
The head
of Her Majesty's Government; the Prime Minister, also has
weekly meetings with the sovereign, where she may express her feelings, warn,
or advise the Prime Minister in the Government's work.
According to
the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom, the monarch
has the following powers:
Domestic Powers
The power to
dismiss and appoint a Prime Minister
The power to
dismiss and appoint other ministers
The power to
summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament
The power to
grant or refuse Royal Assent to bills (making them valid and law)
The power to
commission officers in the Armed Forces
The power to
command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom
The power to
appoint members to the Queen's Council
The power to
issue and withdraw passports
The power to
grant Prerogative of mercy (though Capital Punishment is abolished, this power
is still used to remedy errors in sentence calculation)
The power to
grant honours
The power to
create corporations via Royal Charter
Foreign Powers
The power to
ratify and make treaties
The power to
declare War and Peace
The power to
deploy the Armed Forces overseas
The power to
recognize states
The power to
credit and receive diplomats
3. Political Institutions in Ireland
Ireland is
a parliamentary, representative democratic republic
and a member state of the European
Union. While the head of state is the popularly elected President of Ireland, this is a
largely ceremonial position with real political power being vested in the
indirectly elected Taoiseach (prime
minister) who is the head of the government.
Executive
power is exercised by the government which
consists of no more than 15 cabinet ministers, inclusive of the Taoiseach and
Tánaiste (deputy prime minister). Legislative
power is vested in the Oireachtas, the bicameral national
parliament, which consists of Dáil
Éireann, Seanad
Éireann and the President of Ireland. The judiciary is
independent of the executive and the legislature. The head of the judiciary is
the Chief Justice who
presides over the Supreme Court.
While there
are a number of political parties in the state, the political landscape has been
dominated for decades by Fianna
Fáil and Fine Gael, historically opposed and competing entities, which
both occupy the traditional centre ground. From the 1930s until 2011 they were the largest and second largest parties respectively. Both parties
trace their roots back to the opposing sides of the civil
war. The Labour Party, historically
the state's third political party has only ever been in power when in coalition
with either of the two main parties. In 2011 there was a major political
realignment in Ireland, with Fine Gael becoming the largest party, Labour the
second, and Fianna Fáil dropping to third following a collapse in support,
while Sinn Féin saw a substantial increase in support.
Main
office holders
Office
|
Name
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Party
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Since
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11 November 2011
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9 March 2011
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4 July 2014
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Constitution - the state operates under the Constitution of Ireland which was adopted in 1937 by means of a plebiscite.
The constitution falls within the liberal
democratic tradition. It defines the organs of government and guarantees certain
fundamental rights. The Constitution can only be amended by means of a referendum. Important
constitutional referendums have concerned issues such as abortion, the status
of the Catholic Church,
divorce, European
Union and same-sex marriage.
President
Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, official residence of the President of Ireland
The head of
state is the President of Ireland. In keeping with the state's parliamentary system of
government the President exercises a mainly ceremonial role but does possess
certain specific powers. The presidency is open to all Irish citizens who are
at least 35. They are directly elected by secret ballot under the alternative vote. A candidate
may be nominated for election as President by no fewer than 20 members of the
Oireachtas or by four or more of Ireland's 34 County
and City Councils. A retiring President may nominate themselves as a
candidate for re-election. If only one valid candidate is nominated for
election, for example if there is consensus among the political parties to
nominate a single candidate, it is unnecessary to proceed to a ballot and that
candidate is deemed elected. The President is elected to a seven-year term of
office and no person may serve more than two terms.
In carrying
out certain of their constitutional functions, the President is aided by
the Council of State. There is no
Vice-President in Ireland. If for any reason the President is unable to carry
out his/her functions, or if the Office of President is vacant, the duties of
the President are carried out by the Presidential Commission.
Executive
branch
Government Buildings in Dublin
Executive
authority is exercised by a cabinet known simply as the Government.
Article 28 of the Constitution states that the Government may consist of no
less than seven and no more than fifteen members, namely the Taoiseach (prime
minister), the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and up to thirteen other
ministers. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President, after being nominated
by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament). The remaining
ministers are nominated by the Taoiseach and appointed by the President
following their approval by the Dáil. The Government must enjoy the confidence
of Dáil Éireann and, in the event that they cease to enjoy the support of the
lower house, the Taoiseach must either resign or request the President to
dissolve the Dáil, in which case a general election follows.
Legislative
branch
Leinster
House in Dublin, seat of the houses of the Oireachtas
Article 15 of
the Constitution of Ireland established
the Oireachtas as the national parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists
of the President of Ireland and two
elected houses: Dáil Éireann (the House of Representatives) and Seanad Éireann
(the Senate). As the Oireachtas also consists of the President the official
title of the two law making houses is the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Dáil is
by far the dominant House of the legislature. The President may not veto bills
passed by the Oireachtas, but may refer them to the Supreme Court of Ireland for a
ruling on whether they comply with the constitution.
Dáil
Éireann
Members of the
Dáil are directly elected at least once in every five years under the single transferable vote form
of proportional representation from
multi-seat constituencies. Membership of the house is open to all Irish
citizens who are at least 21 and permanently resident in the State. The
electorate consists of all Irish and British citizens resident in Ireland over
the age of 18. Members of the Dáil are known as Teachta
Dála or TDs. Currently there are 166 TDs, of which one, the Ceann
Comhairle (Chairman), is automatically returned at an election. The Taoiseach,
Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance must be members of the Dáil. All other
members of the Government must be members of the Dáil, however up to two
members may be members of the Seanad. The Dáil is the only House which can
introduce and amend money bills (i.e. financial and tax legislation). Since the
early 1990s no single party has had a majority in Dáil Éireann, so that coalition governments have
been the norm.
Seanad
Éireann
The Senate is
a largely advisory body. It consists of sixty members called Senators. An
election for the Seanad must take place no later than 90 days after a general
election for the members of the Dáil. Eleven Senators are nominated by the
Taoiseach while a further six are elected by certain national universities. The
remaining 43 are elected from special vocational panels of candidates, the
electorate for which consists of the 60 members of the outgoing Senate, the 166
TDs of the incoming Dáil and the 883 elected members of 5 city and 29 county councils. The Senate
has the power to delay legislative proposals and is allowed 90 days to consider
and amend bills sent to it by the Dáil (excluding money bills). The Senate is
only allowed 21 days to consider money bills sent to it by the Dáil. The Senate
cannot amend money bills but can make recommendations to the Dáil on such
bills.
Judicial
branch
The Four Courts in Dublin
Ireland is
a common law jurisdiction. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the High Court and
other lower courts established by law. Judges are appointed by the President
after being nominated by the Government and can be removed from office only for
misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only by resolution of both houses of the
Oireachtas. The final court of appeal is the Supreme Court, which consists of
the Chief Justice, seven ordinary judges and ex officio the
President of the High Court. The Supreme Court rarely sits as a full bench and
normally hears cases in chambers of three, five or seven judges.
Both the
Supreme Court and the High Court have the power of judicial
review and may declare to be invalid both laws and acts of the state which
are repugnant to the constitution.
Public
sector
The
Government, through the civil and public services and state-sponsored bodies,
is a significant employer in the state; these three sectors are often called
the public sector. Management of these various bodies vary, for
instance in the civil service there will be clearly defined routes and patterns
whilst among public services a sponsoring minister or the Minister for Finance may
appoint a board or commission. Commercial activities, where the state involves
itself, are typically through the state-sponsored bodies which are usually organised
in a similar fashion to private companies.
A 2005 report
on public sector employment, showed that in June 2005 the numbers employed in
the public sector stood at 350,100; of these by sector they were 38,700 (civil
service), 254,100 (public service) and 57,300 (state-sponsored). The total
workforce of the state was 1,857,400 that year, thus the public sector
represents approximately 20% of the total workforce.
Civil
service
The civil
service of Ireland consists of two broad components, the Civil Service
of the Government and the Civil Service of the State.
Whilst these two components are largely theoretical, they do have some
fundamental operational differences. The civil service is expected to maintain
the political impartiality in its work, and some sections of it are entirely
independent of Government decision making.
Public service
The public
service is a relatively broad term and is not clearly defined and sometimes is
taken to include the civil service. The public service proper consists of
Government agencies and bodies which provide services on behalf of the
Government but are not the core civil service. For instance local authorities, Education and Training Boards and Garda Síochána are
considered to be public services.
Local
government
Article 28A of
the constitution of Ireland provides a constitutional basis for local
government. The Oireachtas is empowered to establish the number, size and
powers of local authorities by law. Under Article 28A, members of local
authorities must be directly elected by voters at least once every five years.
Local
government in Ireland is governed by a series of Local Government Acts,
beginning with the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. The most
significant of these is the Local Government Act 2001, which
established a two-tier structure of local government. The top tier of the
structure consists of 34 local authorities, of which 29 are County
Councils corresponding to each of the Republic's 26 traditional counties
(Counties Dublin and Tipperary having
been divided into three and two council areas respectively). The remaining 5
top tier authorities are the five largest cities (Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford), each of
which has a City Council with the same status as a County Council.
The second
tier of local government, which only exists in certain urban areas, consists of
the town councils. The towns of Kilkenny, Sligo, Drogheda, Clonmel, and Wexford use the
title of "Borough Council" instead of "Town Council", but
they have no additional responsibilities. Local government bodies have
responsibility for such matters as planning, environmental protection, roads,
public water supply, sanitation and libraries.
Political
parties
A number of
political parties are represented in the Dáil and coalition governments are
common. The Irish electoral system has been characterised by the two and a half
party system, with two large catch all parties dominating. This changed after
the 2011 Irish General Election, following the large drop in support for Fianna
Fáil and the rise
in support for other parties.
The current
largest party in the state is Fine
Gael, which has its origins in the pro-treaty movement of Michael Collins in
the Irish Civil War. Traditionally
the party of law and order, it is
associated with strong belief in pro-enterprise and reward. Despite expressions
of Social Democracy by
previous leader Garrett Fitzgerald, today, it remains a Christian democratic, economically
liberal party along European lines, with a strongly pro-European outlook. Fine
Gael was formed out of a merger of Cumann na nGaedheal, the Centre Party and
the Blueshirts. In recent years it has generally been associated
with a liberal outlook. It has formed government in the periods 1922–32 (Cumann
na nGaedheal), 1948–51, 1954–57, 1973–77, 1981–82, 1982–87, 1994–97, and 2011
to present.
The second
largest party in the state is the centre-left Labour Party which
was founded by James Connolly and Jim Larkin in 1912.
Labour have formal links with the trade union movement and have governed in
seven coalition governments – six led by Fine Gael and one by Fianna Fáil. This
role as a junior coalition partner has led to Labour being classed as the half
party of Ireland's two and a half party system.
Fianna
Fáil, a traditionally Irish republican party
founded in 1927 by Éamon
de Valera, is the third largest party. It first formed a government on the basis of
a populist programme
of land redistribution and national preference in trade and republican populism
remains a key part of its appeal. It has formed government seven times since
Ireland gained independence: 1932–48, 1951–54, 1957–73, 1977–81, 1982, 1987–94,
and 1997–2011. It lost a huge amount of support in the 2011 general election.
The fourth
largest party is Sinn
Féin, established in its current form in 1970. The original Sinn Féin played a
huge role in the Irish War of Independence and
the First
Dáil. Fine Gael and Fianna
Fáil trace their origins to that party. The current day party has been
historically linked to the Provisional
IRA. The party is a Republican party
which takes a more left wing stance on economics and social policy than the
Labour Party.
The United Left Alliance was an
electoral alliance consisting of the Socialist Party, the People Before Profit Alliance, and
the Workers and Unemployed Action Group. It was
formed recently in November 2010, although it has yet to be formally registered
as a political party. The Socialist Party is made
up of members of a Trotskyist faction within
the Labour Party who were
expelled in 1989.
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