The Irish free state came into existence on the 6th of December 1922. It was a liberal democracy. At the time it was one of the twenty-eight democratic states in Europe. “It was born in the middle of vicious civil war and many people, both in Ireland and abroad, doubted that it could survive either as an independent state or a democracy.” (Collins, 2004)
The second Irish constitution, now known as Bunreacht na hÉireann was enacted by the people in 1937. By 1939 Ireland was one of the seventeen countries that still had a democratic government. The institution of the Irish free state was based on the Westminster model.
The Irish Free State became a Republic in 1949 which ensured that Ireland had no more ties with …show more content…
Similarly to the monarchs the president has very little power in Ireland. Firstly he is the countries representative at international events he is recognised as the formal head of state. He signs bills, calls elections and refers to referendums and appoints the Taoiseach. Executive power is jointly held by the head of the Government, the “Taoiseach”, the deputy prime minister the “Tánaíste” and the appointed Ministers. The Seanad has 60 members, 43 Senators are elected from 5 panels,11 are appointed by the Taoiseach and 6 are elected from university panel. These senators draft amendment to bills and examine proposals for new legislation. “Senators are not officially separated into political parties. However, they usually divide into groups supporting and opposing Government business when voting on issues.”(Citizensinformation.ie, 2015) Proportional representation is used to elect the 166 members (TDs) into the Dail.
New Zealand’s system of Government follows the Westminster model, with a constitutional monarchy, a sovereign Parliament, and the essential business of government distributed among three separate entities.This principle of distribution is known as the separation of powers. It exists to ensure that the principal powers of the government, that is, legislative, Executive and judicial, are not concentrated in the hands of any …show more content…
Ireland is one of the few countries that uses this system. There are 27 states in the EU and 23 of them use some version of a list electoral system. The only other country that uses PR-STV voting is malta. PR-STV means you vote by numbering you’re preferences.
Claims are being made that this system of voting focuses too much on the candidates likeability rather than the efficiency of the party.The people who are voted in, the people with power may not be the best people to run the state but by voting them in they could end up becoming ministers. Hence the problem of poor quality politicians leading the country continues. By having a higher quality electoral system you guarantee better politicians to run the