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    An evolving political landscape: Political reform, boundary changes and the 2014 local elections


    Kavanagh, Adrian (2015) An evolving political landscape: Political reform, boundary changes and the 2014 local elections. Administration, 63. pp. 59-77. ISSN 2449-9471

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    Abstract

    This paper reviews the May 2014 local election contests in the Republic of Ireland, while also offering a brief overview of the contests in Northern Ireland. These local elections took place in the context of radical changes to local government structures on both sides of the border – changes which would frame the types of choices open to voters at the May 2014 contests. The new – and generally larger – constituency areas opened up opportunity spaces for new candidates (including new female candidates) to participate in local electoral politics, although these opportunities, in turn, were very much framed by geography. The overall reduction in local representation levels in rural areas in the Republic of Ireland meant that incumbency factors acted as significant brakes on the entry of new candidates in these areas. The radically changing political landscape associated with the era of austerity politics saw a major swing against the government parties in the Republic of Ireland, with notable gains made by Sinn Féin and a number of other anti-establishment parties and groupings. These changes have brought about the formation of new alliances to control different local authorities, which, in turn, have posed an increasing set of challenges in terms of the governance of such councils, as evident in a number of conflicts over council budgets in the winter of 2014.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Putting People First; election boundaries; local elections; voter turnout;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
    Item ID: 8830
    Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1515/admin-2015-0010
    Depositing User: Adrian Kavanagh
    Date Deposited: 13 Sep 2017 16:46
    Journal or Publication Title: Administration
    Publisher: De Gruyter Open
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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