Government Formation in Ireland

This chapter investigates the role of the Irish parliament in government formation, a two-stage process requiring separate votes on the nomination of the prime minister (Taoiseach) and subsequently on the nomination of remaining members of the cabinet. Despite this, minority governments do occur, pointing to the significance of the difference between the partisan composition of the cabinet and the legislative coalition supporting the cabinet. Minority cabinets secure majority investiture by buying the support of non-party legislators with legislative particularism (pork). The move from single-party majority government to coalition government required Irish political parties to update how they engage with each other in the post-electoral government formation game, resulting initially in many failed investiture votes but more recently in a more structured government formation process.