Remaking democracy: Ireland as a role-model the 2019 Peter Mair lecture

Hix, Simon (2020) Remaking democracy: Ireland as a role-model the 2019 Peter Mair lecture. Irish Political Studies, 35 (4). 585 - 601. ISSN 0790-7184

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Abstract

Ireland has experienced many of the (‘demand side') economic and cultural factors that have led to the rise of populism in democracies across the world: a major economic downturn, growing income inequality, and mass immigration. Also, at the individual level, the same socio-demographic characteristics seem to predict populist values in Ireland as in many other countries; with lower income and older Irish voters opposed to immigration, for example. Yet, trust in Irish democracy remains high, and Ireland does not have a radical right populist party. The explanation of Irelands apparent immunity to populism, I suggest, can be found in the way the Irish system of ‘supplemented democracy' (through STV, referendums, and deliberative mini-publics) has allowed for a highly responsive and representative polity. This raises a challenge for the standard views of populism in political science, as it suggests that more attention needs to be paid to political (‘supply-side’) factors that explain populism: of how and why democracy fails or succeeds to respond to potential populist challenges.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fips20/current
Additional Information:	© 2020 Political Studies Association of Ireland
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) J Political Science > JC Political theory
Date Deposited:	12 Feb 2020 15:00
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2025 02:54
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/103346

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