The scenes of disorder in the Dáil chamber yesterday will have alarmed many. The row between government and opposition over speaking rights has been brewing since the election in November. Some will agree with Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy’s assessment that opposition politicians made “an absolute holy show” of themselves; others will see contempt for voters in the image of Michael Lowry giving a two-fingered gesture to the camera. Opposition parties raising a motion of no confidence next week against the Ceann Comhairle means the controversy is likely to continue for some time.
The disagreement centres on a move by the government to allocate additional speaking time to backbench TDs and a coalition of independent TDs who form part of their majority. This has faced furious dissent from opposition parties, who argue that it blurs the distinction between government and opposition and undermines the important voice of the opposition in holding government to account. As Ronan Kennedy from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has argued, the Government’s conduct in pushing through yesterday’s changes goes against article 25 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights enshrining the right to fair political systems.
Reporting has focussed on scenes of dysfunction and drama in Leinster House, but this has to some degree sidelined the real question: Are we witnessing democratic backsliding in Ireland?
What is democratic backsliding?
Democratic backsliding is the erosion of democratic practices and principles and their replacement with undemocratic ones. Crucially, democratic backsliding is ‘state-led’, involving the undermining of democratic institutions from within. There is growing alarm about democratic backsliding across Europe. EU institutions have been relatively powerless against the transformation of Hungary by Victor Orbán’s Fidesz party, into an ‘illiberal democracy.’ Consequently, Orbán has been successful in shelving Hungary’s existing constitution, undermining the power of courts and targeting civil society, journalists, academics and opposition parties.
Democratic backsliding and authoritarianism
The examples of Trump in the US, Erdoğan in Turkey and Putin in Russia show us where democratic backsliding can lead. The authoritarian domestic and international agendas of the Trump administration follow decades of democratic backsliding at the state-level (including gerrymandering, polling station closures, and voting rights restrictions) and hostility to international courts. Similarly, years of democratic backsliding are empowering Erdoğan’s persecution of opposition politicians.
At this moment in time, we need to do everything we can to strengthen democratic practices and principles. The electoral power of the far-right has grown rapidly across Europe since 2008, and the government led by Meloni’s Fratelli D’Italia and the 2015-2023 PiS Government in Poland demonstrate the anti-rights, and anti-minority agendas that these parties will pursue if they get into government.
Why do voters allow democratic backsliding to happen?
Democratic backsliding is a strange phenomenon, in the sense that it is enabled by voters who overwhelmingly agree that democracy is the best form of government. The political scientist Milan Svolik argues that people do tend to accept democratic backsliding if they feel the parties doing so will advance their political interests. Our concern is that the current row over speaking rights will exploit two crucial democratic vulnerabilities – frustration among voters and lack of transparency. In doing so it could begin a process of democratic backsliding in Ireland that may be exploited by populists in future to advance more extremist, anti-rights agendas as in the examples cited above.
Frustration in local communities
In our research, TASC continually encounters individuals who are frustrated with successive governments’ to bring about meaningful improvements in their lives. Ireland’s relative wealth has not helped it address a long-term crisis in healthcare, and is perceived to have contributed to and exacerbated the significant housing crisis we currently face. Despite having been elected in November of last year, the current Dáil has yet to begin advancing its business, having not even formed Oireachtas committees. This situation is even more dire as Ireland where we have one of the most centralised governments in Europe, with extremely limited local government, both in terms of authority and funding. This, coupled with Ireland’s poor record on planning and developing infrastructure, is leading to frustration in communities that local politicians are unable to advance meaningful local agendas. Against this, while it may be tempting for the current government to press ahead with these changes, they should be more cautious about inviting other parties to do the same in future.
Lack of transparency
Today’s authoritarians are less likely frame their actions as in opposition to democracy and instead frame the erosion of democratic practices as ‘reforms’ and in some cases ones that improve democracy. While studies show that people generally understand the difference between democratic and authoritarian practices, many areas of governance are complex, even for experienced civil servants, let alone the public. Intricate domains of policy, such as EU law, planning regulations, and parliamentary protocols are harder for ordinary people to assess. The government’s move to allocate ppposition speaking time to independent TDs within its majority avoids proper scrutiny by operating within the technical language of Dáil protocols. While the public can easily recognise more blatant threats to democracy, smaller-scale erosions are more easily implemented through this kind of technical move.
Democratic safeguards
TASC’s mission is to translate research into practice to sustain democracy and reduce inequality. Our model of research-into-action directly addresses frustration in local communities by initiating projects that empower local communities to bring about tangible changes they want to see. As a public education charity, we contribute to democratic education in a number of ways. This encompasses research reports, action research and our Open Government Toolkit, which promotes better scrutiny of government and civic participation.
Though the international outlook in concerning, the far-right has yet to gain an electoral foothold in Ireland. In our research, we consistently hear people in local communities express frustration about government inaction on key issues. This frustration is intensified by systems perceived as lacking transparency and accountability. Taken together, these factors are enabling the far-right to build a base at a local level that could easily coalesce at a national one. In light of this situation, we cannot be complacent about guaranteeing democratic safeguards. Any actions taken now that could undermine the norms and principles that support our parliamentary processes will inevitably be taken advantage of by populists and extremists. We need to respond through positive action that strengthens democratic safeguards across all levels of civic life.
Tiarnán McDonough
As Democracy Researcher at TASC, Tiarnán’s work contributes to TASC’s goal of building democratic resilience by helping strengthen communities and civil society through research that addresses complex social inequalities that undermine democratic participation.
Tiarnán McDonough is an experienced researcher in qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on social inequalities and democratic participation. His research involves seldom-heard communities to inform programme and policy development through interdisciplinary and inclusive research approaches. As part of this, Tiarnán has experience developing public platforms to connect research findings with communities and policymakers to inform real-world action.
Tiarnán has previously worked as a researcher in academic and applied research settings, including as part of a project at Maynooth University that explored how EU law can advance cultural rights for people with disabilities. Before this, he worked for independent research organisations including the National Centre for Social Research in the UK. He is experienced in working with various stakeholders and partners including NGOs, civil society organisations and government departments and developing research that explores sensitive topics with vulnerable participants.
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