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Party Mandates and Democracy: Making, Breaking, and Keeping Election Pledges in Twelve Countries

two-thirds followed through on this; of those who said they would vote for an Independent, just a quarter did so. The richness of the qualitative and historical aspects of the study is also a great asset, particularly when focusing on government formation and maintenance; its detailed, compressed accounts of independents’ relationships with governments further the analysis, but also convey the political drama in which they often became embroiled. Some parts of the book seem like diversions from the main argument: the taxonomy in Chapter 2, for instance, while interesting, does not play any major role in explaining Irish independents’ success; nor is it the typology it claims to be, as some of the categories lack mutual exclusivity (see, for example, p. 43, p. 49). While some of the accounts by independent politicians in Chapter 4 throw light on their experiences, others simply serve to highlight their eclecticism. One of their number – a former MEP – seems to believe in a conspiracy by the EU to get rid of independents. Something that remains unaddressed by Weeks is the strategic advantages of remaining unregistered as a political party: self-declared groups of independents, for example, need not comply with candidate gender quotas. This seems like an omission in what is ultimately an account of independents’ rational responses to institutions. The reader is left in little doubt that Weeks is sympathetically disposed towards the subjects of his research: introducing the parliamentarians’ contributions to Chapter 4, he extolls their experience, insights, and ideas for reform. One of them – Finian McGrath – is fond of describing himself as a ‘maverick’, and Weeks uses this label to describe independents. However, the ‘maverick’ descriptor does not sit well with the powerful, well-supported argument of the book, which concerns their rational behaviour. One might even observe that in the Irish context, independents are not only rational; they are often pretty conventional.