A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when the governing political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament. 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 A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a Cabinet of a parliamentary Government in which several parties cooperate 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 It is also known as a hung parliament. In Parliamentary systems a hung parliament is one in which no one Political party has an outright majority and means it is most commonly equally balanced In bicameral parliaments, the term relates to the situation in the chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial. In Government, bicameralism (bi + Latin la ''camera'' chamber is the practice of having two legislative or Parliamentary chambers Thus a bicameral

In general, a minority government tends to be less stable than a majority government, because the opposition can always bring down the government with a simple vote of no confidence. A motion of no confidence (also vote of no confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a Parliamentary motion Also, it is often argued that a minority government is less accountable because the leader can dodge responsibility and shift blame to the opposition. However, a minority government tends to be less arrogant because it often requires compromise between the different parties to ensure the passage of legislation.

Coalitions and alliances

To deal with situations where no clear majorities appear, parties either form coalition governments, alliances or agreements with other parties to stay in office. A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a Cabinet of a parliamentary Government in which several parties cooperate

A common situation is governance with "jumping majorities", i. e. that the cabinet stays as long as it can negotiate support from the parliament — majorities which well may be differently formed from issue to issue, from bill to bill.

An alternative arrangement is a looser alliance of parties, exemplified with Sweden. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. There the long governing Social-Democrats have governed with more or, mostly, less formal support from other parties; in the mid-20th century from Agrarians, after 1968 from Communists, and more recently from Greens and ex-Communists, and have thus been able to retain executive power and (in practice) legislative initiative. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This is also common in Canada, where nine elections from 1921 to 2005 effectively produced minority federal governments: the parties can rarely cooperate enough to form a coalition, but will have loose agreements instead. See also Canadian electoral system, Timeline of Canadian elections The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada has two chambers. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. During the history of Canadian politics there have been eleven minority governments on the federal level in ten separate minority Parliaments (in one case there were two

Occasionally a confidence and supply agreement may be formed. In a Parliamentary democracy confidence and supply are required for a Government to hold power This is more formal pact which still falls short of creating a coalition government. A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a Cabinet of a parliamentary Government in which several parties cooperate In the Canadian province of Ontario, the Liberal Party formed a minority government from 1985 to 1987 on the basis of a formal accord with the New Democratic Party (NDP): the NDP agreed to support the Liberals for two years on all confidence motions and budgetary legislation, in exchange for the passage of certain legislative measures proposed by the NDP. Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec The Ontario Liberal Party is a Centrist provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The Ontario New Democratic Party, formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a Social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada A motion of no confidence (also vote of no confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a Parliamentary motion This was not a coalition government, as the NDP remained an opposition party and was not given seats in the cabinet. 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. In this case the Liberals did not even have a plurality of seats: they had 48 and the NDP had 25, but the Progressive Conservatives were the largest party with 52. The Ontario PC Party, formally known as the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (in french Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario) is a Right-of-centre

In Canada, in minority situations, the incumbent government has the first opportunity to attempt to win the confidence of the House even if it has fewer seats. Usually in this situation the incumbent government simply resigns if the main opposition party is only a few seats short of having a majority or if it feels it has no chance of winning the support of enough members of smaller parties to win an initial confidence vote. Thus in 1957, 1963, 1979, and 2006 the incumbent governments resigned rather than attempt to stay in power.

New Zealand's 48th Parliament operates with both a coalition and a looser agreement: the government is a coalition between the Labour Party and the Progressives, while United Future and New Zealand First have an agreement to support the government on confidence matters, while the Green Party abstains. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The 48th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party The Progressive Party is a Political party in New Zealand. It is presently the junior partner in the governing coalition being somewhat to the left of United Future New Zealand is a New Zealand Political party. As of 2008 it has two members of the New Zealand Parliament – party leader Peter Dunne New Zealand First is a Political party in New Zealand. It has had members in the New Zealand House of Representatives since 1993 The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a Political party in the New Zealand parliament.

Simple plurality system

In most Westminster system nations, each constituency elects one member of parliament by simple plurality voting. The Westminster system is a democratic Parliamentary system of Government modelled after the British government (the Parliament of the United This system heavily biases the vote towards increasing the number of seats of the top two parties and reducing the seats of smaller parties, a principle known in political science as Duverger's law, and thus minority governments are relatively uncommon. In Political science, Duverger's law is a principle which asserts that a plurality rule election system tends to favor a Two-party system. (Advocates of this system see this as an advantage of it. ) A party with less than 40% of the popular vote can often win an outright majority of the seats. (For instance, in the 2005 UK General Election, the governing Labour party won a majority of 66 in House of Commons with only 35. 3% of the popular vote. ) If support for some parties is regionally concentrated, however, then Duverger's law applies separately to each region, and so it is quite possible for no party to be sufficiently dominant in each region so as to receive a majority of the seats. In a minority situation the head of the largest party is usually asked to form a government. They must then either form a coalition with one or more existing parties, or they must win enough support from the other parties or independents to avoid no-confidence motions. Because of no-confidence motions, minority governments are frequently short-lived or fall before their term is expired. The leader of a minority government will also often call an election in hopes of winning a stronger mandate from the electorate. In Canada, for instance, federal minority governments last an average of 18 months.

International situation

Canada

Further information: Minority governments in Canada

Netherlands

Coalitions in the Netherlands are formed with the support from parliamentary parties, elected in a system of proportional representation. During the history of Canadian politics there have been eleven minority governments on the federal level in ten separate minority Parliaments (in one case there were two The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Although very rare, minority governments can be formed during the formation period of a Dutch cabinet, since an election might not result in a coalition that can be agreed upon by the parliamentary parties. The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. More often, a minority government is formed when one of the parliamentary factions of a coalition partner of the cabinet retracts its support for the coalition, or when all ministers of that parliamentary party resign. Then the Prime Minister will offer the resignation of the full cabinet to the Dutch Monarch. The Prime minister of the Netherlands is the Head of government of the Netherlands and is the chair of the Dutch cabinet, and The Netherlands has been an independent Monarchy since 16 March 1815, and has been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau

A couple things might happen then. The Monarch might simply call for the dissolution of parliament, calling for new elections and making the cabinet demissionair. This is not a minority government, but only a form of caretaker government, since the powers of the cabinet are reduced due to the fact that the Monarch has dissolved Parliament and new elections will be held.

When the Monarch does not decide to call for the dissolution of parliament, the cabinet can continue as a rompkabinet, where the cabinet has still all powers (since a dissolution of parliament has not yet been called by the Monarch) and can finish all introduced legislation, such as a government budget for the next year, but will need to seek a majority in the parliament to pass this legislation. Elections are then called later (theoretically, not until the next planned election, but presumably earlier because the basis for the regeerakkoord is gone).

It is also possible that the Monarch will call a new formation round, whereby a new cabinet is formed with the support of another majority of parliament (theoretically including the coalition partner that caused the resignation of the cabinet). Elections are then held as scheduled at the end of the parliamentary term, since the Monarch will not dissolve parliament when an informateur was able to negotiate a new regeerakkoord.

Scotland

After the 2007 parliamentary elections, the Scottish National Party led by Alex Salmond constituted a minority government in the Scottish Parliament. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament The Scottish National Party (SNP (Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba Scottis Naitional Pairtie is a Centre-left political party which campaigns for Scottish Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond, (ˈsamənd is the First Minister of Scotland, heading a minority Scottish Government. The Scottish Parliament ( Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba; Scots: Scottish Pairlament) is the devlolved national unicameral This was because the SNP gained 47 seats out of 129 in the election, which was some way short of achieving an absolute majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament, but more than any other single party. An absolute majority or majority of the entire membership (in American English, a Supermajority Voting requirement is a Voting basis The Scottish Parliament ( Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba; Scots: Scottish Pairlament) is the devlolved national unicameral The SNP were unable to negotiate a majority coalition government with any other party but no other combination of parties were able to agree a deal either, leaving the SNP able to become the government though without a majority. A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a Cabinet of a parliamentary Government in which several parties cooperate A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral

Wales

After the 2007 Assembly elections, the Welsh Labour Party led by Rhodri Morgan initially formed a minority government in the Welsh Assembly. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The Wales Labour Party, also known as Welsh Labour (Llafur Cymru is the part of the Labour Party which operates in Wales. Rt Hon Hywel Rhodri Morgan AM (born 29 September 1939) is a Welsh Politician; the Labour National Assembly for The National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. This was because they gained 26 seats in the election, which was short of an absolute majority of seats in the Assembly. An absolute majority or majority of the entire membership (in American English, a Supermajority Voting requirement is a Voting basis Whilst Labour were initially unable to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, a 'Rainbow Coalition' of the Conservative Party (UK), Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru failed to come to fruition. The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal Political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. However on 6 July 2007, Welsh Labour Party members voted for a coalition with Plaid, which was followed by a similar result from Plaid Cymru members the next day. As a result, the Welsh Assembly is now controlled by the Labour-Plaid alliance with Rhodri Morgan as First Minister and Plaid Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones as his deputy. Ieuan Wyn Jones, AM (born 22 May 1949) is leader of Plaid Cymru, Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government and Member

See also

• Majority government