How Ireland Voted 2007: The Full Story of Ireland's General Election The Full Story of Ireland's General Election

In this book, the sixth in the highly regarded How Ireland Voted series, leading Irish political scientists examine what happened; analyse the election results, the opinion poll evidence and the media coverage to establish why it happened; and assess the long-term significance. This is the definitive analysis of the 2007 Irish general election and is the sixth book in the well established How Ireland Voted series. Thirteen separate chapters written by leading political scientists as well as by some of the candidates themselves, take the reader from the background during the 2002-2007 period to the implications of this election for Irish political life, while winners and losers provide views from the campaign trail. Contributors analyse pledges made by the previous government, examine the campaign strategies of the parties and the media's response, and dissect the election results to see how voters made sense of it all. A further chapter explains how the new government was formed. The polls and the record of betting are considered as indicators of change in opinion in the last few months of the campaign, while comprehensive appendices contain all the statistics on the results, the new D̀il, and the new government. A series of carefully selected photographs capture the spirit of this intense and exciting election Front Matter....Pages i-xlix The background to the election....Pages 1-18 The fulfilment of election pledges....Pages 19-32 Campaign strategies and political marketing....Pages 33-47 Candidate selection: democratic centralism or managed democracy?....Pages 48-64 The view from the campaign trail....Pages 65-77 The earthquake that never happened: analysis of the results....Pages 78-104 Explanations for party choice....Pages 105-131 The polls: a clear improvement....Pages 132-147 The election as horse race: betting and the election....Pages 148-166 The media and the campaign....Pages 167-186 The Seanad election....Pages 187-204 Government formation in 2007....Pages 205-217 Fianna Fáil and Irish party competition....Pages 218-231 Back Matter....Pages 250-259 In this book, the sixth in the highly regarded How Ireland Voted series, leading Irish political scientists examine what happened; analyze the election results, the opinion poll evidence and the media coverage to establish why it happened; and assess the long-term significance.