Coalition Government
A coalition government is formed when two or more political parties come together to govern a country. This typically occurs when no single party wins a majority in an election. Coalition governments require negotiation and compromise among the participating parties to reach consensus on policies and decision-making. They can bring diverse perspectives to governance but may also face challenges in maintaining unity and stability.
6 Key excerpts on "Coalition Government"
eBook - ePub- Peter C. Ordeshook(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...6 Cooperation and Coalitions 6.1 The Concept of a Coalition Of all the different processes that we have thus far considered or have argued can be modeled by using game theory, there is one in particular that seems central to politics but which we have not yet discussed—coalitions. Briefly, A coalition corresponds to an agreement on the part of two or more players to coordinate their actions so as to bring about an outcome that is more advantageous to members of the coalition than the outcome that prevails from uncoordinated action. The concept of a coalition encompasses a great many things in politics, and studying them includes studying the processes whereby governments are formed and prime ministers are chosen in Parliaments, alliances are formed and maintained in international affairs, and legislators maneuver together in order to pass mutually beneficial legislation. Indeed, given the generality of our definition, nearly any organization designed to facilitate the objectives of two or more persons simultaneously can be interpreted as the manifestation of a coalition. Thus, a political party, a legislative caucus, a Soviet cooperative, a labor union, and a citizen’s interest group all represent coalitions. More fundamentally, a constitution that establishes and defines a state is the consequence of a coalition among citizens who choose to give up some degree of individual sovereignty in order to secure the gains that ostensibly flow from forced collective action. Of course, no one disputes the fact that coalitions are an important part of politics...
eBook - ePubStrategy and Politics
An Introduction to Game Theory
- Emerson Niou, Peter C. Ordeshook(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...8 Cooperation and Coalitions 8.1 The Concept of a Coalition Of the political processes we have thus far considered or argued can be modeled using game theory, there is one central to politics that we have not yet fully explored—coalitions. Briefly, A coalition corresponds to an agreement on the part of two or more players to coordinate their actions so as to bring about an outcome that is more advantageous to its members than what prevails from uncoordinated action. The concept of a coalition encompasses a great many things in politics and studying them includes studying the processes whereby governments are formed and prime ministers chosen, alliances are negotiated and maintained in international affairs, and legislators maneuver to pass mutually beneficial legislation. Indeed, given the generality of our definition, nearly any entity that facilitates the objectives of two or more persons simultaneously can be interpreted as the manifestation of a coalition. Thus, a political party, a legislative caucus, a military alliance, a Soviet cooperative, a labor union, and a citizen’s interest group all represent coalitions. More fundamentally, a constitution that establishes and defines a state is the consequence of a coalition among those who choose to give up some degree of individual sovereignty in order to secure the gains that ostensibly flow from collective action. Of course, no one disputes the fact that coalitions are an important part of politics...
eBook - ePubIndian Politics and Society since Independence
Events, Processes and Ideology
- Bidyut Chakrabarty(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The ruling coalition may not always be free to adopt policies in accordance with its priorities unless there is a consensus among the partners that are critical for its survival. An important consequences of this is the growing importance of ‘behind the scenes’ agreements among different sets of party leaders, both within and outside the government. So long as the government enjoys the backing of leaders with majority support, there is no threat to its continuity and it can get parliament to do whatever it proposes to do. 19 One of the factors that contributed to the rise of these smaller parties is certainly the breakdown of Congress and also its failure to represent the myriad social and economic interests at the grassroots. So, political coalition, at the level of government formation, seeks to articulate the neglected voice by bringing in to the centre stage those parties which are not exactly ‘centrist’. In this sense, coalition is a great leveller of interests. With their crucial role in the government for its performance and continuity, these parties with limited geographic spread also forced the bigger parties to redefine their roles in the changed socio-economic and political reality. So coalition is not merely a cementing device; it has also ushered in a new era of constant dialogues among those competing for power regardless of size and depth of organization. The definite decline of the national parties is also indicative of their failure to effectively address issues of contradictory social classes. In most cases, regional parties are constituted with specific socio-economic agenda. In other words, these are political formations drawing on specific social and economic interests that largely remain unrepresented. They thus are not only useful in involving the hitherto neglected sections in the democratic processes, but also change the nature of the political by redefining its contour...
eBook - ePubThe Rise of the Norwegian Parliament
Studies in Norwegian Parliamentary Government
- Hilmar Rommetvedt(Author)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In his memoirs he takes up the relations between the government, the parliamentary party groups and the party organizations in a coalition. With reference to the British politician Leo Amery, Lyng describes this relationship as follows: ‘A government coalition is like a pyramid with a weak foundation. It is tightly connected at the top, i.e. within the cabinet. As one moves downwards from the top to the foundation, the ties become looser’. 37 As Lyng points out, this is explained by the fact that the ministers are a relatively small group of people having almost daily contact with each other. The cabinet members have to act as a unit within the political environment. They have common responsibilities towards parliament. Hence, they develop a sense of common interests and solidarity. The co-operation within the coalition is more complicated on the parliamentary level. The number of politicians involved is larger, and they have less contact with each other. The temptation to operate on their own is greater, due to the competition between MPs and parties. The competition is even keener between the foundations of the parties, i.e. the central and local organizations. Lyng maintains that these organizations take care of the daily contact with voters. They are responsible for attracting voters’ support. Parties that are relatively close to each other, like members of a coalition, are competing for the same voters. What one party gains, another coalition member is likely to lose. Consequently, Lyng says, coalitions are rather short-lived, while parties have a natural proclivity to survive as long as possible. 38 Earlier in this chapter attention was drawn to two sources of disagreement suggested by Andeweg; the ministries and the parties. 39 Lyng points out a third source of disagreement, namely the functional specialization of the various parts of each party. The formation of a Coalition Government implies that the functional differentiation is extended...
eBook - ePub- Simon James(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...6 The impact of coalition and minority governments In 2010, the UK found itself with a Coalition Government: the first since 1945 and the first peacetime coalition since 1922. This inevitably had a profound impact on the way the Cabinet system operated. In political terms, the government ended in disaster for the Liberal Democrats, reduced to six seats at the 2015 election, and in success for the Conservatives, who gained the overall majority they had failed to win in 2010. But in purely operational, mechanical terms – which is the concern of this book – the coalition was a notable success, with all governmental systems operating surprisingly smoothly for the entire five-year life of the government, and unlike most coalitions, this government proved remarkably stable. This success has been somewhat overlooked because, for obvious reasons, the public focus has been on the coalition’s policy outputs and any public disagreements. Also, as the Liberal Democrats’ then leader Nick Clegg ruefully admitted, Conservative ministers were good at portraying themselves as being entirely in control of events, while the Liberal Democrats were not good at publicising either the influence they had on policy decisions or the means by which the influence was wielded (Clegg 2016). This chapter looks at three aspects: 1 coalition formation : the choice of coalition partners and the content of the coalition agreement, which strongly influenced the later operation of the government itself; 2 the mechanisms and processes for the operation of the coalition : that is, the ways in which the Cabinet system was adapted to accommodate multi-party government, and the additional mechanisms that had to be created; and 3 how these mechanisms operated over the five-year life of the government. Much of the successful working of the coalition was down to preparation by the Cabinet Office...
eBook - ePubPolitical Decision-Making in Switzerland
The Consensus Model under Pressure
- P. Sciarini, M. Fischer, D. Traber(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
...The growth in the number and diversity of organized interests has made it more difficult for any group to dominate the decisions made within a particular policy area (Baumgartner and Jones 1993; Hojnacki 1997). Joining a coalition is therefore an important strategy for political actors to enhance their chances for success during the decision-making process. Forming coalitions allows them to coordinate their actions, join organizational and financial resources, or demonstrate broad support for a project (Mahoney 2007). Most often, such coalitions form only around a specific policy project (Knoke 2010) and are informal (Heaney 2006). Besides benefits, being part of a coalition also implies costs for actors, since they have to invest in internal coordination and communication efforts, and might have to give up parts of their own position (Henry 2011; Knoke et al. 1996; Mahoney 2007; Schlager 1995). Therefore, not all actors decide to join a coalition, but they sometimes might prefer to work alone (Hojnacki 1997). There are usually two or three main coalitions present in a decision-making process (Knoke et al. 1996; Sabatier 1987; Sabatier and Weible 2007). Empirically, coalitions in the policy process are often identified based on qualitative case analyses (Afonso et al. 2010; Nohrstedt 2010), on political discourses (Leifeld 2013), on actors’ direct indications about which coalition they belong to (Heaney 2006; Mahoney 2007), or on the reconstruction of coalitions relying on network indicators of collaboration and conflict (Fischer 2014a; Ingold 2011; Weible and Sabatier 2005). This book relies on the latter. Coalitions in parliament As established in Chapter 2 and 3, the parliamentary phase has become more important in Switzerland in recent years. In many instances, actors are no longer able to agree on an acceptable compromise at the pre-parliamentary stages of the process, and important decisions are postponed to the parliamentary stage...
