ABSTRACT
The practice of modern democratic government depends as much upon conventional practice as upon constitutional or legal provision. The Constituent Assembly, impressed with the evils of the party system, devoted considerable discussion in an effort to secure their elimination. The status, the interrelation, the objectives of parties in the Free State consequently have remained analogous to those of the parties in England. It was anticipated, for example, by the framers of the Constitution that the Government of the day would in fact, as well as in form, be elected by the Dáil. But, as we have seen, the essential feature of the two-party system, that is the election of the Government by the people, has reappeared. As in England, therefore, the object for which the parties strive is the simple one of obtaining a majority in the Legislature. In one particular respect the development of parties in the Free State has proved quite different to that generally anticipated in 1922.
