Would you join a political party (pp)?

PH01

Or are you a member already?

It was interesting to read mrangry post on joining the PDs http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?postid=925953#post925953 , so I though it would make an excellent topic for a poll.

Trebor

Question:
what do you get by joining a political party?
i'd prefer to vote for who i thought would get the job done at the time or with a manifesto that i like.

p.pete

My political outlook is bleak, I can't differentiate between the larger parties and the smaller ones that try to do anything useful usually don't have enough power to do so - due to being smaller. Also another negative thing about the smaller parties is that I might fully agree with one or two of their policies, more often than not they have loads of other policies that would scare me if they tried to implement them.

If it weren't for my negativity though I would actually be interested:rolleyes:

PH01

Originally posted by Trebor
Question:
what do you get by joining a political party?

A BIG FAT SALARY!

You don't get anything for joining a political party - well monetarily anyway. But depending upon what you put in society will gain from your effort.
That's a bit airy-fairy, but it's the best one could do right now.

Chaos-Engine

I'm a member of Labour for the last year now.

I got a letter from the party yesterday asking me if i'd consider running int he local elections lol.
Something about young candidates.
I'd do it but college is my priority right now

solice

i joined young fine gael last october when i started college.

bonkey

No - I would prefer to stay out of politics

Because as we all know, the only way you can be involved in politics is by being a member of a political party.....



jc

PH01

Originally posted by bonkey
No - I would prefer to stay out of politics

Because as we all know, the only way you can be involved in politics is by being a member of a political party.....



jc

You could try voting which is a way of being involved in politics without being part of a political party.

Trebor

Originally posted by PH01
You could try voting which is a way of being involved in politics without being part of a political party.

yes but you don't give that option in your poll but you do give one for "No - I would prefer to stay out of politics" which is why i did not vote as i am intersted in politics but have no desire to join a party.

Sparks

There's no poll option for "my political beliefs prevent me from joining a party or running for office". Heck, there isn't even an "other" option...

PH01

Bonkey, or Gandalf or Swiss even, could you edit the poll to add in another option for 'No' as in "No - but still interested in politics"?

gandalf

Added another option.

I used to be a member of Labour but left them after they turned their backs on the voters and went into government with Fianna Fail.

Gandalf.

DadaKopf

Originally posted by p.pete
My political outlook is bleak, I can't differentiate between the larger parties and the smaller ones that try to do anything useful usually don't have enough power to do so - due to being smaller. Also another negative thing about the smaller parties is that I might fully agree with one or two of their policies, more often than not they have loads of other policies that would scare me if they tried to implement them.

Wow, that's brilliant. "The big parties aren't any good and all seem the same so I don't vote for them and the small ones which have good policies are too small so I don't vote for them."

Hey, here's an idea. Vote for the small parties. Maybe they'll get powerful enough to make a difference. Geez.

beardedchicken

none of the above.
i'm very interested in politics, but i prefer to stay away from party politics, although i generally tend to support (i.e. vote for) parties with a vaguely left-wing slant.

also, i can't join any irish political party, cos none of them even come close to matching my own ideologies

p.pete

Originally posted by DadaKopf
Wow, that's brilliant. "The big parties aren't any good and all seem the same so I don't vote for them and the small ones which have good policies are too small so I don't vote for them."

Hey, here's an idea. Vote for the small parties. Maybe they'll get powerful enough to make a difference. Geez.

WTF, did you even read my post? and what kind of a quote is that? are you supposed to put "inverted" commas around a dodgely reasoned para-phrase?

I didn't say "The big parties aren't any good". I, me, personally cannot differentiate between them (In fact after 4 years of maths in college I can't differentiate full stop, but thats just me going off on a chord:D ) - not to say that it is impossible to tell them apart.

As for the small parties, if you had absorbed a little bit more of my post, which was so disceptively written, what they would do if given power would scare me. At election time they seem to have common sense and walk around like a breath of fresh air but when you read their manefesto there there is a lot of small print that I usually balk at.

BTW, thanks for the idea;)

ednwireland

I think the real problem seems to be that getting to the top of the pile where you may be able to make some difference (TD/minister/leader) level you have had to compromise your core beliefs so much that all the parties look much the same. The other ones have such ludicrous core beliefs which would take the country into the stone age.

so no i would not directly support any party i suppose i have to make up my mind on the lies they all tell at election time

ff/fg seem to be the same side iof the same coin from my perspective sure didn't they come from the same place ( little bit controversial there)

spudulike

I don't necessarily believe that Politicians are evil or out to screw the public. The problem is the system, we need a radical overhaul of the entire public sector - no longer should we accept underperformance and overstaffing. Our taxes need to be used more efficiently. Public departments should be run more like private companies but no government is going to address it because it will cause to much pain and lost votes...

Chaos-Engine

Originally posted by spudulike
I don't necessarily believe that Politicians are evil or out to screw the public. The problem is the system, we need a radical overhaul of the entire public sector - no longer should we accept underperformance and overstaffing. Our taxes need to be used more efficiently. Public departments should be run more like private companies but no government is going to address it because it will cause to much pain and lost votes...

I completely agree with you. The civil service is just a hot-bed of FF support. They only serve FF interests as FF perserve there jobs in the status quo..

Another thing. Alot of ppl in Ireland have the mentality that "I'll only vote for FF or FG as they are the only parties that could possible get into power". I draw this statement from most of the voters in the 30-50 age group. I have no respect for someone that has that mentality and I feel that they shouldn't vote if that is their belief. As most the time they complain about FF led government and don't honestly belief that their so called Simpathy vote or wasted vote on a smaller party like Labour(which won't be small after teh next Election), the Greens and the PDs(*spite*)

my 2c

Sparks

I've said it before, I'll say it again - there's a better way to run a government.

Éomer of Rohan

I am a member of the Socialist Party but as Sparks said, there are better ways to run a government; direct democracy being one of them. I disagree with Partisan politics BUT at present it is the most effective way to network, build contacts and generally get things done.