Ireland: Gendering candidate selection in Ireland: Incentivizing parties through state funding

In 2012, Ireland joined approximately 80 nation-states worldwide in adopting a gender quota law. The Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 stipulates that political parties must select at least 30 percent female candidates and 30 percent male candidates; if they do not, they will lose 50 percent of the funding they receive from the State on an annual basis which they use to run their operations. The quota threshold is due to rise to 40 percent from 2023 onwards. This legislative gender quota was operationalized for the first time during the 2016 general election and was a success, resulting in a 90 percent increase in women’s candidacy and a 40 percent increase in women’s election. However, we find that the financial mechanism of the gender quota law accentuated a tension between the incentive structure of State funding and the conventionalism of local party branches in relation to candidate selection. Additionally, recruiting new candidates to meet the quota created circumstances in which some parties used funding as part of a larger electoral strategy, with some of their female candidacies being best described as akin to that of the metaphorical sacrificial lamb, selected to contest unwinnable seats.