The fulfilment of election pledges by the outgoing government

This chapter makes a systematic study of the manifesto pledges made by all parties in 2011, and details the extent to which these were implemented. It finds that a majority of pledges made by the government parties were at least partially fulfilled, as were those made by Fianna Fáil as against a minority of those made by Sinn Féin. The analysis shows that fulfilment was more likely for promises to retain the status quo. Other significant factors were inclusion in the Programme for Government, the degree of consensus across parties and whether a party controlled the relevant ministry. It concludes that the 2011 election did make a difference to policy, if not a huge difference.