A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties
cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that coalition.
The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a
majority in the parliament.
A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis,
for example during wartime, or economic crisis, to give a government the high degree of perceived
political legitimacy, or collective identity it desires while also playing a role in diminishing
internal political strife.
In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions.
If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken.
Practice When a general election does not produce a
clear majority for a single party, parties either form coalition cabinets, supported
by a parliamentary majority, or minority cabinets which may consist of one or more parties.
Cabinets based on a group of parties that commands a majority in parliament tend to
be more stable and long-lived than minority cabinets.
While the former are prone to internal struggles, they have less reason to fear votes of no
confidence.
Majority governments based on a single party are typically even more stable, as long as
their majority can be maintained.
Coalition cabinets are common in countries whose parliament is elected by proportional
representation, with several organized political parties often represented.
They are rarer in countries in which the cabinet is chosen by the executive rather than by
a lower house, such as in the United States.
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 often.
Distribution
Countries which often operate with coalition cabinets include: the Nordic countries, the
Benelux countries, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Latvia,
Turkey, Israel, New Zealand, Kosovo, Pakistan, Kenya, Nepal, India, Trinidad and Tobago,
Thailand and Ukraine.
Switzerland has been ruled by a coalition of the four strongest parties in parliament
from 1959 to 2008, called the "Magic Formula".
Since 2010, the United Kingdom also operates a formal coalition between the Conservative
and the Liberal Democrat parties, but this is unusual: the UK usually has a single-party
majority government.
Coalitions composed of few parties United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, coalition governments usually have only been formed at times of
national crisis.
The most prominent was the National Government of 1931 to 1940.
There were multi-party coalitions during both world wars.
Apart from this, when no party has had a majority, minority governments normally have been formed
with one or more opposition parties agreeing to vote in favour of the legislation which
governments need to function: for instance the Labour government of James Callaghan formed
a coalition with the Liberals in 1977 when it lost the narrow majority it had gained
in the October 1974 election.
However, in the run-up to the 1997 general election, Labour opposition leader Tony Blair
was in talks with Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown about forming a coalition government
if Labour failed to win a majority at the election; but there proved to be no need for
a coalition as Labour won the election by a landslide.
The 2010 general election resulted in a hung parliament, and the Conservatives, led by
David Cameron, which had won the largest number of seats, formed a coalition with the Liberal
Democrats in order to gain a parliamentary majority, ending 13 years of Labour government.
This was the first time that the Conservatives and Lib Dems had made a power-sharing deal
at Westminster.
It was also the first full coalition in Britain since 1945, having been formed 70 years virtually
to the day after the establishment of Winston Churchill's wartime coalition, although there
had been a "Lib-Lab pact", an agreement stopping well short of a coalition, between the Labour
and Liberal parties, from March 1977 until July 1978, after a series of by-election defeats
had eroded Labour's majority of three seats which had been gained at the October 1974
election.
Germany In Germany, for instance, coalition government
is the norm, as it is rare for either the Christian-Democratic Union of Germany together
with their partners the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, or the Social Democratic Party
of Germany, to win an unqualified majority in a national election.
Thus, at the federal level, governments are formed with at least two parties.
For example, Helmut Kohl's CDU governed for years in coalition with the Free Democratic
Party; from 1998 to 2005 Gerhard Schröder's SPD was in power with the Greens; and from
2009 Angela Merkel, CDU/CSU was in power with the FDP.
"Grand coalitions" of the two large parties also occur, but these are relatively rare,
as large parties usually prefer to associate with small ones.
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 was the situation in Germany in 2005 when Angela Merkel became Chancellor: 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 with their formerly
ruling coalition.
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.
In German coalitions rarely consist of more than two parties.
Coalitions composed of many parties A coalition government may consist of any
number of parties.
Examples of coalitions Australia
In federal Australian politics, the conservative Liberal, National, Country Liberal and Liberal
National parties are united in a coalition, known simply as the Coalition.
The Coalition has become so stable, at least at the federal level, that in practice the
lower house of Parliament has become a two-party house, with the Coalition and the Labor Party
being the major parties.
This coalition is also found in the states of New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria.
In South Australia and Western Australia the two parties compete separately, while in the
Northern Territory and Queensland the two parties have merged, forming the Country Liberal
Party, in 1978, and the Liberal National Party, in 2008, respectively.
The other federal coalitions have been:
United Australia-Country-Independents coalition in 1940
Labor-Greens-Independents coalition in 2010
Coalitions formed at a State/Territory level have included:
In Tasmania: Liberal–Greens coalition in 1996;
Labor–Greens coalitions formed in 1989 and 2010.
In the Australian Capital Territory: Liberal–Independent coalition in 1998;
Labor–Greens coalitions in 2001 and 2008.
Belgium In Belgium, where there are separate Dutch
speaking and French speaking parties for each political grouping, coalition cabinets of
up to six parties are quite common.
Canada In Canada, the Great Coalition was formed
in 1864 by the Clear Grits, Parti bleu, and Liberal-Conservative Party.
During the First World War Prime Minister Robert Borden attempted to form a coalition
with the opposition Liberals to broaden support for controversial conscription legislation.
The Liberal Party refused the offer but some of their members did cross the floor and join
the government.
Although sometimes referred to as a coalition government, according to the definition above,
it was not.
It was disbanded after the end of the war.
According to historian Christopher Moore, coalition governments in Canada became much
less possible in 1919 when the leaders of parties were no longer chosen by elected MPs,
but instead began to be chosen by party members.
That kind of leadership selection process had never been tried in any parliament system
before, and remains uncommon in the parliaments of the world today.
According to Moore, as long as that kind of leadership selection process remains in place,
and concentrates power in the hands of the leader, as opposed to backbenchers, then coalition
governments will be very difficult to form.
Moore shows that the diffusion of power within a party tends to also lead to a diffusion
of power in the parliament in which that party operates, thereby making coalitions more likely.
During the 2008 Canadian parliamentary dispute, two of Canada's opposition parties signed
an agreement to form what would become the country's second coalition government since
Confederation if the minority Conservative government was defeated on a vote of non-confidence;
unseating Stephen Harper as Prime Minister.
The agreement outlined a formal coalition consisting of two opposition parties, the
Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party.
The Bloc Québécois agreed to support the proposed coalition on confidence matters for
18 months.
In the end, parliament was prorogued by the Governor General and the coalition dispersed
following the election.
Denmark In Denmark, all governments since 1982 have
been coalitions.
The first coalition in Danish political history was formed in 1929 by Thorvald Stauning, and
consisted of the Social Democrats and the Social Liberals.
Since then, a number of parties have participated in coalitions.
Excluding the post-WW2 Liberation Cabinets member parties, the following parties have
done so: The Centre Democrats, the Christian People's Party, the Conservative People's
Party, the Retsforbund, the Social Democrats, the Socialist People's Party, the Social Liberal
Party, and Venstre.
The current one consist of the Social Democrats and the Social Liberals, holding a total of
61 seats in the Folketing.
A majority of the seats takes 88.
These are secured through the Red-Green Alliances 12 seats and the Socialist People's Partys
16, for a total of 89 seats.
Finland In Finland, no party has had an absolute majority
in the parliament since independence, and multi-party coalitions have been the norm.
Finland experienced its most stable government since independence with a five-party governing
coalition, a so-called "rainbow government".
The Lipponen cabinets set the stability record, and were unusual in the respect that both
moderate and radical left wing parties sat in the government with the major right-wing
party.
The current Finnish cabinet is also a rainbow coalition of a total of five parties.
India At the national level India's first ever coalition
government was formed under the Prime Ministership of Morarji Desai which existed from 24 March
1977 to 15 July 1979 headed by the Janata Party.
The first successful coalition government in India which completed the whole 5 year
term was the BJP Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance with Atal Bihari
Vajpayee as Prime Minister from 1999-2004.
Then another coalition, the United Progressive Alliance, consists of 13 separate parties
ruled India for two terms from 2004-2014.
Now after the elections in May 2014, National Democratic Alliance again came into power
with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
Indonesia As a result of the toppling of Suharto, political
freedom is significantly increased.
Compared to only three parties allowed to exist in the New Order era, a total of 48
political parties participated in the 1999 election, a total of 24 parties in the 2004
election, and 38 parties in the 2009 election.
There are no majority winner of those elections and coalition governments are inevitable.
The current government is a coalition of 5 parties led by the Democratic Party.
Ireland In Ireland, coalition governments are quite
common; not since 1977 has a single party been able to form a majority government.
Coalitions are typically formed of two or more parties always consisting of one of the
two biggest parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and one or more smaller parties or independent
members of parliament.
The current government consists of Fine Gael and the Labour Party.
Ireland's first coalition government was formed in 1948.
Ireland has had consecutive coalition governments since the 1989 general election, excluding
two brief Fianna Fáil minority administrations in 1994 and 2011 that followed the withdrawal
of their coalition partners from government.
Before 1989, Fianna Fáil had opposed participation in coalition governments, preferring single-party
minority government instead.
Irish coalition governments have traditionally been based on one of two large blocs in Dáil
Éireann: either Fianna Fáil in coalition with smaller parties or independents, or Fine
Gael and the Labour Party in coalition, sometimes with smaller parties.
The only exception to these traditional alliances was the 23rd Government of Ireland, comprising
Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party, which ruled between 1993 and 1994.
The Government of the 31st Dáil, though a traditional Fine Gael–Labour coalition,
resembles a grand coalition, due to the collapse of Fianna Fáil to third place among parties
in Dáil Éireann.
Israel A similar situation exists in Israel, which
has dozens of different parties with representation in the Knesset.
The only faction to ever gain a majority of Knesset seats was Alignment, an alliance of
the Labor Party and Mapam that held an absolute majority for a brief period from 1968 to 1969.
Historically, control of the Israeli government has alternated between periods of rule by
the right-wing Likud in coalition with several right-wing and religious parties and periods
of rule by the center-left Labor in coalition with several left-wing parties.
Ariel Sharon's formation of the centrist Kadima party in 2006 drew support from former Labor
and Likud members, and Kadima ruled in coalition with several other parties.
Japan Post-World War II Japan has historically been
dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party but there was a brief coalition government
formed after the 1993 election following LDP's first loss of its overall House of Representatives
majority since 1955.
Japan has had coalition governments since 1994.
Criticism Advocates of proportional representation suggest
that a coalition government leads to more consensus-based politics, as a government
comprising differing parties need to compromise about governmental policy.
Another stated advantage is that a coalition government better reflects the popular opinion
of the electorate within a country.
Those who disapprove of coalition governments believe that such governments have a tendency
to be fractious and prone to disharmony, as their component parties hold differing beliefs
and thus may not always agree on policy.
Sometimes the results of an election mean that the coalitions which are mathematically
most probable are ideologically infeasible, for example in Flanders or Northern Ireland.
A second difficulty might be the ability of minor parties to play "kingmaker" and, particularly
in close elections, gain far more power in exchange for their support than the size of
thir vote would otherwise justify.
Coalition governments have also been criticized for sustaining a consensus on issues when
disagreement and the consequent discussion would be more fruitful.
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 alliance to stifle the growth
of emerging parties.
Of course, such an event is rare in coalition governments when compared to two-party systems,
which typically exist because of stifling of the growth of emerging parties, often through
discriminatory nomination rules regulations and plurality voting systems, and so on.
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 would have to vote against their own party's platform
in the parliament.
If they do not, the party has to leave the government and loses executive power.
See also Cohabitation
Collaborative leadership Electoral fusion
Hung parliament List of democracy and election-related topics
List of countries with coalition governments Majority government
Minority government Plurality voting system
Political coalition Political organisation
Category:Political party alliances Popular front
Unholy alliance United front
References