Coalition behavior in the Republic of Ireland in the years 1937-2009

This thesis is focused on analysis of coalition behaviour in the Republic of Ireland in years 1937-2009 and individual governments in Ireland in the defined period. The work describes all aspects connected with this phenomenon. In the first part there are major institutions and fundamental characteristics of the Irish political system described. Also the development, main features and specifics of the party system is explained. This part includes the list of relevant parties, as the major participants of the government formation. In the main part of the work there are main factors identified and their influence on coalition behaviour and government's formation is evaluated. Specifically there is the influence of the political system, voting system, party system and also another factors analyzed. Substantial part of this work is concentrated on the typology of Irish governments and their classification according to the theory of coalitions. Especially role of two crucial parties - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - is emphasized. The work also explains the rules of government formation in Ireland, what is most common kind of government, how long is their durability and which specifics are with Irish government connected. During the writing of the thesis analytic and descriptive method has been used