Democratic revolution? Evaluating the political and administrative reform landscape after the economic crisis

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Date
2017-05-23
Authors
Reidy, Theresa
Buckley, Fiona
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De Gruyter Open
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Abstract
Upon winning the general election in February 2011, Taoiseach elect Enda Kenny spoke of a ‘democratic revolution’. Within weeks, a programme for government was agreed between Fine Gael and Labour, promising to ‘radically reform an out-dated system of administration’ and determining to ‘change’ and ‘renew’ the political system. Much was made of the new government’s political and administrative reform plans. But how many of these reform plans were delivered? How effective were these plans in bringing about change and renewal to a political and administrative system found seriously wanting as the financial crash unfolded? And as Ireland emerges from recession, has anything really changed? These are the questions that guide this collection of articles. This special issue brings together contributions from some of the most eminent scholars of Irish politics to assess the extent to which the promises of political and administrative reform were delivered in the years after 2011. In the next section, we provide an overview of the political reform debate that emerged prior to the 2011 election. We document the core features of the debate and highlight the main contributors. Following this, we provide an overview of each of the articles, drawing out their main themes and conclusions. In the final section, we review the political reform process in Ireland before concluding with an assessment of the ‘democratic revolution’.
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Political reform , Ireland , Administrative reform
Citation
Reidy, T. and Buckley, F. (2017) 'Democratic revolution? Evaluating the political and administrative reform landscape after the economic crisis'. Administration, 65 (2):1-12. doi:10.1515/admin-2017-0012