Responsive parties don’t want reform, responsibility or even power

March 2016 3 7

heelectionisover,buttheprospect

offormingagovernmentisstillsome-

whatdistant.Thisprobablyshouldn’t

surpriseus.Apartfromtheoutgoing

FineGael-Labourgovernmentnoneof

theotherpartieswerereallyproposingtogo

intogovernment.Theircampaignswerebased

onacritiqueoftheincumbentgovernment.

TheIrishpeopleroundlyrejectedtheoutgo-

inggovernment.Butitisnotclearwhatpositive

choices thevoterswere making,if any.The

resultwasremarkablysimilartotheresultof

thelocalelectionsin2014.Localelectionsare

regardedassecond-orderelections,inwhich

votersaren’tmakingadecisiononthechoice

onoffer,rathermakingajudgementaboutthe

governmentoftheday.Theseareprotestelec-

tions. In 2016 each party came within 1.5

percentage points of their

resultinthelocalelections.

This Dáil will have the

appearanceofaprotestmeet-

ing.It’snotjusttheTrotskyite

left, but also Sinn Féin and

manyindependents.Itisnot

thatthesedon’thaveanyinter-

est inpolicy–they do–but

theyhavenointerestintaking

responsibilityforpolicydeliv

ery.AtthemomentSinnFéin

repeatsrelentlesslythatitwill

notcompromiseitsprinciples.

Wehaverarelyseensomany

ontheleftanywheregreetthe

prospectofaright-winggov-

ernment(ofFiannaFáilandFine

Gael)withsuchjubilation.

But, problematically, they

areineffecttellingtheirvoters

-theoneslivinginhotels,orlyingonhospital

trolleys,orwaitingfortreatment–thatthey

don’tmatter.Thosepeoplewillhavetowaitve

yearsuntilthepartyisbigger,becausetheir

politicalmovement’slong-termgrowthtrumps

effectingrealchangetopeople’slivesthrough

compromise.

These are ‘responsive’ politicians,

responsivetoeveryrealorperceivedgrievance

onthepartofthecitizenstheyrepresent.Popu-

listsontheleftandrightofferedvoterssimple

solutionstothesegrievances.Allweneededto

dowastaxtherich,burnbond-holders,spend

moremoneyandeverythingwouldbesolved.

Theyappeartobelievethatweliveinaworld

withoutexternalconstraints.

These parties

andindependents

were not only

responsive to

voters’ concerns,

they fed them.

Theysoughttosay

tovotersthatany

problems experi

enced bythemor

theirowncommu-

nitywerethedirect

responsibility of

thestate.Though

many rise up as

‘communityactiv

ists’, bybeing so

demandingofthestatetheyareactuallydisen-

franchisingtheircommunities.

The government parties’ politics were

‘responsible’.TheGreenstookresponsibility.

Labourtookresponsibility.

Certainlytheymademistakes;inpursuitof

‘responsibility’theywereoftentooanxiousto

pleasemarketsandEurope.Theyignored,or

weren’tresponsive

to,theoftengenuine

concerns of voters.

Butsurelytheestablish-

mentparties’unwillingnessto

promisetheundeliverablewasn’toneoftheir

mistakes?

Betweentheharshrealismof‘responsible’

politicsandtheutopianismofthe‘responsive’

politics,languishordinarypeoplewhostruggle

withincreasinginsecurity.Issuessuchasrural

servicessawtheriseofindependents,issues

suchastheaffordabilityofchildcare,homes,

andtransportledto‘responsible’partiesseep-

ingvotesto‘responsive’partieswhohaveno

realsolutions.

The‘responsive’don’twantreform,theywant

toprotect failingsystems. Theyoffered few

ideasbeyondinvestingmoremoneyintoser-

vices. That we already spend above OECD

averageproportionsofGDPonhealthappears

not to matter. They want to protect poorly

designed redistributive payments that help

createasmallunderclasssoremovedfromsoci-

etythatmanyofuscannotactuallyunderstand

them.

Acceptingthatpeople’sdiminisheddispos-

ableincome,whichaffectstheirabilitytoafford

consumergoods-atterat-screenTVs-isa

genuineproblemthatthestateneedstocare

about, the ‘responsive’’s answers to issues

suchasthehousingcrisisarermlyrootedin

thetwentiethcentury–rentcontrolsandrent

allowance.Theyaremoreinterestedinprotect-

ingfailingteachersthanhelpingthechildren

theydamage.Alltheiranswersdealwiththe

symptomsofinequality,acceptingthedisease

ofinequalityofopportunityasifitisthenatural

orderofthings.

Ifourpoliticiansaregoingtobe‘responsive’,

votersneedtostarttotakeresponsibility.We

shouldavailofthetimeoverthenextmonthor

sowhenthereisno‘government’toreecton

whetherpunishingpartieswhomakecompro-

misesisgoingtodeliveranythingotherthan

morefantasticpromisesbypartieswhoeschew

powerand,especially,itsresponsibilities.

Responsive parties don’t

want reform, responsibility

or even power

This Dáil will have the appearance

of a protest meeting

SF, Trotskyites and many

independents want to

protect poorly designed

redistributive payments

that help create a small

underclass so removed

from society that many

of us cannot actually

understand them

OPINION

by Eoin O'Malley

ALTERNATIVE

VIEW

Pitch seeks hurler