In Praise of Politics | 19 comments (19 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: I kind of like the concept of ... (none / 1)

I'm not sure about having different electoral cycles for different houses - in the US this results in general election fever every 2 years despite individual Senators having a 6 year term. The Irish term of up to 5 years for both houses seems about right. In practice the average term is about 3/4 years as not all elections result in a long term stable Government.

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by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Wed Mar 9th, 2011 at 05:01:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I kind of like the concept of ... (none / 1)

The main problem with electing the whole body of 60 or so at once is what method to use. STV gets cumbersome over about 10 - 15 members to elect and even open list methods get controlled by the parties more than I'd like.

by FoolsErrand on Wed Mar 9th, 2011 at 05:39:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I kind of like the concept of ... (none / 1)

That's why I'm suggesting keeping the current STV small multi-seat system for the Dail and introducing a (perhaps provincial or national) list system for the Senate. You can always have a "technical group" list for Independents.

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by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Wed Mar 9th, 2011 at 05:41:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Half of a Senate of 60 each three years ... (none / 1)

... and the election can be done in the Australian style, where the election takes place at the same time as the lower house, but the term starts on the appointed time.

On a provincial basis, lessee ...

County of Dublin about 1.2m
Leinster 2.3m less 1.2m is 1.1m
Munster 1.2m
Connacht 0.5m
Ulster 2m - NI 1.75m is 0.25m

If Connacht and Ulster are merged, that'd be roughly:

County of Dublin: 8
Leinster ex-Dublin: 8
Munster: 8
Connacht & Ulster: 6

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Wed Mar 9th, 2011 at 06:54:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Half of a Senate of 60 each three years ... (none / 1)

I'm not sold on the idea of having different cycles for Dail and Senate elections - at the moment they are broadly synchronised and take place whenever a Government loses the confidence of the Dail or at most, after 5 years. Sometimes that could be within a few months of the last election.

However, if you were to use provincial constituencies, the numbers are manageable regardless of whether you use STV or list, and regardless of whether 30 or 60 seats are on offer.

At the moment the Senate election takes place some weeks after the Dail election. It thus becomes a second chance saloon for politicians who didn't make it into the Dail - which tends to devalue the Senate. I would have both elections on the same day and force politicians to decide which chamber they wanted to be elected to.

The constitution also allows the Taoiseach to appoint up to two Senators to his cabinet (although that facility has been rarely used partly because the Government is formed weeks before the senate is elected). That could be expanded if the Senate were to become a more truly representative body and both bodies were elected on the same day.

Index of Frank's Diaries

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Wed Mar 9th, 2011 at 08:43:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Half of a Senate of 60 each three years ... (none / 1)

The Australian system has maximum 3 year terms for the House of Representatives, and fixed overlapping six year terms for the Senate. An election for the lower house sufficiently close to the date of the next Senate term is also a Senate election, but the current Senators hold their seats until the end of their term when the newly elected Senators take their seats.

But on the above, a four provinces plus County of Dublin would be roughly:

County of Dublin ~ 17
Leinster OTP ~ 15
Munster ~ 17
Connacht ~ 7
Ulster ~ 4

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Wed Mar 9th, 2011 at 09:09:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

In Praise of Politics | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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