ABSTRACT
Centuries of British control of the island of Ireland gave way in 1922 to independence for most of the island as the Irish Free State – but only after a bloody struggle. The Republic of Ireland uses the single transferable vote (STV) form of proportional representation. Social factors such as the largely rural population of Ireland and the influence of the Catholic Church meant that parties were forced to develop in response to a largely rural, morally conservative voting public. The success of independents in Ireland is not just due to the STV electoral system but due to an STV system in Ireland that emphasizes individual candidates on the ballot, little policy polarization between the two main parties, and hurdles in creating new parties. Until 1989 there were only two types of governments in Ireland. On the one hand there were single-party governments of Fianna Fail, and on the other hand there were coalitions of the remaining relevant parties.
