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Our electoral system and the Oireachtas are not fit for a modern democracy � it�s time for change � Doherty

Monday, July 19, 2010
Our electoral system and the Oireachtas are not fit for a modern democracy � it�s time for change � Doherty
It is time to change Ireland. Part of that change needs to be to our electoral system and political culture. But we also need political change. Because we can change and reform electoral system all we like but for most people, without political change the outcomes will be the same.

That said, we have to respond to the widespread public belief that the political system has failed us.

Public disillusionment with politics has grown as the role of the government and the establishment parties in bringing about the economic crisis has become more apparent. It has been exacerbated by revelations of corruption, outrageous expenses claims and a dull and ineffectual Oireachtas.

The system of PRSTV has become distorted – a system designed for seven to nine seats constituencies is now being applied to three, four and five seat constituencies.

The cronyism which has been at the heart of the political culture of the state for so long was central to failure to regulate the banks and deal with property bubble.

The political culture and the electoral system are also deeply partitionist - a fact that has hurt border counties like Donegal badly.The denial of northern representation in the Oireachtas is an expression of that partitionism.

The political culture we have is the one created by the political class who have held power since the foundation on the state. They are the architects of a system that protects their own interests and the interest of an elite at the top of Irish society from the higher levels of the civil service and the private sector to the judiciary.

The constitution, which is meant to uphold the rights of citizens is also flawed and outdated. A new constitution needs to accompany electoral reform.

Laws that have their foundation in the outdated 1937 constitution do not protect the rights of children nor the socio-economic rights of any of citizens.

As someone who is currently in the process of taking a judicial review against the Government over the failure to hold a by-election in a constituency where there has been a vacancy for over 3 months, I am acutely aware of some of the flaws in the electoral system.

There should be no requirement to go to the courts on such an issue – a time limit for the holding of by elections should be set down in law.

Our electoral system and the Oireachtas are not fit for a modern democracy. The electoral system has given us an Oireachtas that is largely male, middle class and middle aged. It is not surprising that it is so unrepresentative.

Many people have no engagement whatsoever with our electoral system – they are not on the electoral register and they do not vote. Those most estranged from our electoral system and from politics come from the most disadvantaged communities in the state.

Any reform of our political system must have as one of its first objectives to increase the participation of citizens, particularly those who currently do not participate, in the political process at all levels from voting to holding office.

Voters are the key starting block of any electoral system but often the most overlooked. Getting on the electoral register should be simple and straightforward. Using PPS numbers to avoid fraud rather than putting hurdles in the path of those seeking to get on the register. The process needs simplification, with automatic renewals of registered voters for starters.

I want to see an independent electoral commission take on this task rather than leave it to each local authority as is the case at present. An electoral commission could take on the task of voter education on elections. The most critical task of such a commission should be to increase turnout and numbers contesting seats at all tiers of representation. All elections should be on weekends to increase participation with two-day polling considered.

Voting age should be reduced to 16 and consideration should be given to reducing the age at which a person can run for the Dáil from 21 to 18. We need to do this to get more young people engaged in politics. Irish citizens living outside the jurisdiction should be given the right to vote, as is the norm in most modern democracies.

We need a radical overhaul of the electoral process in order to ensure that there is a both a more democratic expression on the part of the population, including on an-all Ireland basis, and that the actual elected institutions are made more representative of the popular will.

Proportional representation should be strengthened through the introduction of larger, multi-seat constituencies as there were under the revolutionary First Dáil and for a period after the founding of the Southern state. This would mean that the minimum number of seats in any constituency would be increased to 5. That would ensure a much more accurate representation of parties based on their percentage vote in contrast to the current system that favors the largest parties especially in three and four seat constituencies.

There should also be an examination of how the party list system operates in other countries with consideration given to using such a system to elect a proportion of the Dáil.

We need to strengthen the role of parliament. The Dáil can be made more effective – small changes could empower the opposition to be more effective and to make the Dáil more relevant to the lives of ordinary people. The Dáil needs to play a stronger role in holding the government to account.

I want to see ordinary TDs, backbenchers, be able to get to their feet and question the Taoiseach on issues of direct relevance to their constituents without having to give four days notice of their intention to put down a question.

We need the Dáil to be much more spontaneous than it is at present. I want to see big changes in terms of how legislation is brought through the Oireachtas and how the committees work.

Legislation should start in the committees, allowing all members to have a real influence in the formation of legislation and all members should be allowed to bring forward draft legislation for consideration by the committee they are a member of.

Committee chairs should be chosen be allocated proportionally based on party strength and should not have any additional financial reward attached to them – they should not be a reward for loyal backbenchers of whatever party is in government.

Committees should also be given investigative powers, and there should be an obligation on the government to consider proposals put forward by a committee, such as the report produced by myself on ‘Tackling Social and Economic Inequalities in the West’.

Taking the fixation with local issues out of parliamentary elections cannot happen if there is a not a parallel reform and empowerment of local government in Ireland.

Dáil reform needs to see a move towards more family friendly sittings – shorter sitting days but with shorter periods of recess over the summer and at Christmas.

We also need to make the Dáil more accessible to the public. While the Constitution states that sittings of the Dáil should happen in public, the reality is that members of the public who wish to sit in the gallery to view the Dáil in session need to have a member of the House facilitate them in doing so. This should change.

If we are serious about addressing the warped political culture in this state that will require a radical shift that seeks an end to cronyism and an end to the privileged position enjoyed by an elite in this state.

We may not have a body of established lobbyists in the state, but what we have is something more insidious. We have politicians who are in many cases to close to those that they are meant to be regulating.

Rewarding those close to you with positions on state boards, moving government departments to your own constituency, ensuring sports clubs in your constituency get a disproportionate share of funding when you are Minister- these are all examples of cronyism at work. Over recent years we have had government politicians too close to the property developers – property developers too close to bankers – bankers too close to the regulator – is any surprise we are in the mess we are in? After the 2007 general election we saw a person who was a junior minister in the government move straight to the head of the Construction Industry Federation. We need rules that prevent people making moves like this straight from government to the heart of those bodies trying to wield influence over government policies.

There also needs to be an end to the situation where positions on state boards are doled out as rewards to supporters of whatever party happens to be in government. There also needs to be a cull of quangos and unelected bodies to cut back on waste and improve transparency and efficiency in decision making.

As a member of the Seanad I have to say that the current Seanad serves no useful purpose and should be abolished. As it is currently constituted is not a democratic institution and merely reproduces the existing balance of power in the Dáil and acts as a rubber stamp for the Government.

While there is a case to be made for a system with two houses of parliament for this to make sense they have to have two clear, separate defined roles.

The current Seanad is an affront to democracy, giving votes to people based on their educational attainment, giving multiple votes to members of local authority and ensuring a government majority through 11 Taoiseach nominees.

We could have a Seanad elected by a list system which seeks to represent civic society and minorities (a type of civic forum) or one that is more structured like the United States senate where each of the 32 countieswould have one representative directly elected, regardless of the population size, while representatives would continue to be elected to the Dáil based on the basis that they represent a set number of electors.

In looking at this question we must look at a much wider concept of democracy that simply parliamentary representation, crucial as that is.

We would therefore favor the introduction of meaningful mechanisms of participative democracy. These could include local community councils and citizens’ initiatives which would allow people to set in train a process leading to legislation on specific issues and which would give ordinary citizens a direct input into decision-making.

A major transformation of local government is also required including an increase in councilors’ powers to include appropriate local control over the provision of services including greater local control over budgets and financing of local government.

That could also require the power to collect tax revenue. We would also restore or increase councilors’ powers over planning, housing, transportation and waste management. That would correspondingly limit the power of county and city managers’ powers.

The structure of local government needs to be reformed in order to make it more accountable. This would entail the directly electing Chairs and Mayors who would assume many aspects of the council management oversight role. We would also build towards Irish Unity by increasing local, regional and cross-border coordination and integration of council work in development planning and service provision.

I welcome this discussion on reform our electoral system and political culture. I hope that it is the start of a process of building support for ideas that will make our political system more inclusive, more democratic and fit to meet the needs of Ireland today, and in the years ahead.

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