Coalition government

A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of Government, typically representing the executive branch. A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament. A majority, also known as a simple majority in the US, is a Subset of a group that is more than half of the entire group TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A parliament is a Legislature, especially in those A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis, for example during wartime, to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy it desires whilst also playing a role in diminishing internal political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions (national unity governments, grand coalitions). National governments (alternatively national unity governments or national union governments) are broad Coalition governments consisting of all parties (or A grand coalition is a Coalition government in a Multi-party Parliamentary system where the two largest political parties unite in a coalition If a coalition collapses a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken. A Motion of Confidence is a motion of support proposed by a government in a Parliament or other assembly of elected representatives to give members of parliament (or A motion of no confidence (also vote of no confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a Parliamentary motion

1 In practice
2 Coalition governments worldwide
- 2.1 Coalitions composed of few parties
- 2.2 Coalitions composed of many parties
3 Arguments for and against coalition government
4 References
5 See also

In practice

To deal with a situation in which no clear majorities appear through general elections, parties either form coalition cabinets, supported by a parliamentary majority, or minority cabinets which may consist of one or more parties. A minority government or a minority cabinet is a Cabinet of a Parliamentary system formed when the governing Political party or Cabinets based on a coalition with majority in a parliament, ideally, are more stable and long-lived than minority cabinets. While the former are prone to internal struggles, they have less reason to fear votes of non-confidence. Majority governments based on a single party are typically even more stable, as long as their majority can be maintained. In the Westminster System, there is a majority government when the governing party enjoys an Absolute majority of seats in the Legislature or

Coalition cabinets are common in countries in which a parliament is proportionally representative, with several organized political parties represented. Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes It does not appear in countries in which the cabinet is chosen by the executive rather than by a lower house (such as in the United States). In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In semi-presidential systems such as France, where the president formally appoints a prime minister but the government itself must still maintain the confidence of parliament, coalition governments occur quite regularly. The semi-presidential system is a System of government in which a prime minister and a President are both active participants in the day-to-day administration This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation.

Coalition governments worldwide

Countries which often operate with coalition cabinets include: the Nordic countries, the Benelux countries, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Israel and India. The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe called the Nordic region, consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that includes three neighboring monarchies, '''Be'''lgium, the '''Ne'''therlands, and Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Switzerland has been ruled by a loose coalition of the four strongest parties in parliament since 1959, called the "Magic Formula". Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation

Coalitions composed of few parties

In Germany, for instance, coalition government is the norm, as it is rare for either the CDU/CSU or SPD to win an unqualified majority in a national election. The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands) is the largest Political party in Germany. Thus, at the federal level, governments are formed with at least one of the smaller parties. For example, Helmut Kohl's CDU governed for years in coalition with the FDP and from 1998 to 2005 Gerhard Schröder's SPD was in power with the Greens. Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (born 3 April 1930 is a German conservative politician and statesman The Free Democratic Party ( Freie Demokratische Partei, FDP is a liberal Political party in Germany. ˌɡeɐ̯haɐ̯t fʁɪʦ kʊɐ̯t ˈʃʁøːdɐ (born 7 April 1944 German politician, was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005 The Alliance '90/The Greens ( Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) the German Green party, is a Political party in Germany whose regional

A similar situation exists in Israel with its dozens of different parties (only once in its electoral history has one party managed to gain a majority of seats in the Knesset). For Beit Knesset a Jewish Place of worship, see Synagogue. The Knesset (כנסת lit The centre-right, Likud, thus forms coalitions with far-right and orthodox groups, while Labour allies itself with the more leftist and pacifist parties, while various centrist parties can and do join either party. Likud (ליכוד lit Consolidation) is the major centre-right political party in Israel. In Politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting Moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes

In both countries, grand coalitions of the two large parties also occur, but these are relatively rare and large parties usually prefer to associate with small ones (though ironically, currently both Israel's and Germany's governments include the two largest parties). However, if none of the larger parties can receive enough votes to form their preferred coalition, a grand coalition might be their only choice for forming a government. This is the current situation in Germany: in early elections, the CDU/CSU did not garner enough votes to form a majority coalition with the FDP; similarly the SPD and Greens did not have enough votes to continue on with their formerly ruling coalition. German federal elections took place on September 18, 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany A grand coalition government was subsequently forged between the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Partnerships like these typically involve carefully structured cabinets. The CDU/CSU ended up holding the Chancellory while, the SPD took the majority of cabinet posts. The Head of government of Germany is called Chancellor (Kanzler

Coalitions composed of many parties

A coalition government may consist of any number of parties. In Germany, the coalitions rarely consist of more than two parties (where CDU and CSU, two non-competing parties which always form a single caucus, are in this regard considered a single party), while in Belgium, where there are separate Dutch and French parties for each political grouping, coalition cabinets of up to six parties are quite common. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

India's present governing coalition, the United Progressive Alliance, consists of 14 separate parties. United Progressive Alliance ( UPA) is the present ruling coalition of political parties heading the Government of India. In Finland, no party has had an absolute majority in the parliament since independence, and multi-party coalitions have been the norm. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Finland experienced its most stable government (Lipponen I and II) since independence with a five-party governing coalition, so called "rainbow government". Paavo Lipponen's first Cabinet, 13th April 1995 to 14th April 1999 The Finnish declaration of independence was adopted by the Parliament of Finland on 6 December 1917. The Lipponen cabinets set the stability record, and were unusual in the respect that both moderate (SDP) and extreme left wing (Left Alliance) sat in the government with the major right-wing party (National Coalition). The current government (Vanhanen II) is a four-party coalition. Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet (April 2007-) is the 70th cabinet of Finland. Japan is experiencing coalition governments since 1990s, which came into existence in 1993 after the defeat of Liberal Democratic Party, and it is present till today. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The, frequently abbreviated to LDP or, is a Centre right, conservative, Political party and the largest party in Japan. Israel's governing coalitions meanwhile can include up to nine parties and are notoriously unstable as a result.

In Australia, the conservative Liberal and National parties are united in an effectively permanent coalition. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party. The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party. This coalition has become so stable, at least at the federal level, that Australia, in effect, has become a two-party system. A two-party system is a form of Party system where two major Political parties dominate voting in nearly all Elections at every

In the United Kingdom, coalition governments (known as National Governments) have since 1915 only been appointed in times of national crisis. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The most prominent was the National Government of 1931-1940. In the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all UK major political parties. There was also an all party coalition during World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including In other circumstances, when no party has found themselves in possession of a majority, minority governments have been the rule.

Arguments for and against coalition government

Advocates of proportional representation suggest that a coalition government leads to more consensus-based politics, in that a government comprising differing parties (often based on different ideologies) would need to concur in regard to governmental policy. Consensus has two common meanings One is a general agreement among the members of a given group or Community, each of which exercises some discretion in An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s Another stated advantage is that a coalition government better reflects the popular opinion of the electorate within a country. An opinion is a Person 's Ideas and thoughts towards something which it is either impossible to verify the truth of or the truth of which is thought unimportant to

Those who disapprove of coalition governments believe that such governments have a tendency to be fractious and prone to disharmony. This is because coalitions would necessarily include different parties with differing beliefs and who, therefore, may not always agree on the correct path for governmental policy. Sometimes the results of an election are such that the coalitions which are mathematically most probable are ideologically infeasible, such as in Flanders or Northern Ireland. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of A second difficulty might be the ability of minor parties to play "kingmaker" and, particularly in close elections, gain far more for their support than their vote would otherwise indicate. " Kingmaker " is a term originally applied to the activities of Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick during the Wars of the Roses in England.

Coalition governments have also been criticized of sustaining a consensus on issues when disagreement and the consequent discussion would be more fruitful. Consensus has two common meanings One is a general agreement among the members of a given group or Community, each of which exercises some discretion in To forge a consensus, the leaders of ruling coalition parties can agree to silence their disagreements on an issue to unify the coalition against the opposition. The coalition partners, if they control the parliamentary majority, can collude to make the parliamentary discussion on the issue irrelevant by consistently disregarding the arguments of the opposition and voting against the opposition's proposals — even if there is disagreement within the ruling parties about the issue.

Powerful parties can also act in an oligocratic way to form an unholy alliance to stifle the growth of emerging parties. Oligarchy' ( Greek, Oligarkhía) is a Form of government where Political power effectively rests with a small elite segment Of course, such an event is rare in coalition governments when compared to two-party systems, which typically exists because of stifling the growth of emerging parties, often through discriminatory ballot access regulations and plurality voting systems, etc. A two-party system is a form of Party system where two major Political parties dominate voting in nearly all Elections at every Ballot access rules called nomination rules outside the US, regulate the conditions under which a candidate or Political party is either entitled to stand for election The plurality voting system is a Single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member

A single, more powerful party can shape the policies of the coalition disproportionately. Smaller or less powerful parties can be intimidated to not openly disagree. In order to maintain the coalition, they will have to vote against the party's platform in the parliament. If they do not, the party has to leave the government and loses executive power.

Contents

In practice

Coalition governments worldwide

Coalitions composed of few parties

Coalitions composed of many parties

Arguments for and against coalition government

References

See also