Cute hoor and, by extension, "cute hoorism", is a cultural concept in Ireland where a certain level of corruption is forgiven - or sometimes even applauded[1] - of politicians or businessmen. This phenomenon is sometimes attributed to postcolonialism[2] and emigration in Ireland, but also to how historically passive income and patronage were favoured, in culture and in public policy, over entrepreneurship. But the concept also references how years of net emigration had led to a situation where having a network of powerful contacts created more opportunities for a school or college leaver than work ethic, talent or academic achievement.
Cute hoorism in politics has also come to refer to the phenomenon where, because of Ireland's multi-seat constituency proportional representation, single transferable vote system, political candidates often face more of a threat in re-election from a running mate in their party than from a rival in a party with substantially different political policies. Typically, a successful method of besting a rival with identical political beliefs is by being seen to be better at dealing with parish pump issues.[3][4]
However, the phrase "cute hoor" is used more widely than this in politics in Ireland, particularly when referring to cynical tactics in general, such as the difference between pre-election campaigning and post-election coalition-forming.