coalition governments
Shared power arrangements
Coalition governments form when no single political party wins enough seats to govern alone, requiring two or more parties to share power.
Common in parliamentary systems with proportional representation, coalitions involve negotiating ministerial posts and policy compromises: The coalition government collapsed when the junior partner withdrew over budget disagreements.
They can produce moderate policy but often prove unstable.
- hung parliamentNo single party majority
- smoke-filled roomSecret political negotiation venue
- backroom dealSecret unofficial agreement
- compromiseAgreement through mutual sacrifice
- strange bedfellowsImprobable alliance of opposites
parliamentary democracy · Weimar Republic · working majority · proportional representation · consensus-building · power-sharing · junior partner · factionalism · multi-party system · vote · confidence · deadlock · cabinet reshuffle · kingmaker · electoral reform · multiparty · constitutional reforms · seats
- Weimar Germanyhyperinflation, Treaty of Versailles, Hindenburg, Ebert, emergency decrees
- Italian PoliticsBerlusconi, Five Star, Democratic Party, political instability, political scandals
- Italian RepublicChristian Democrats, political coalitions, PCI, PSI, Communist Party
- Third RepublicNational Assembly, Dreyfus Affair, separation of church and state, presidential powers, bicameral legislature
- Weimar politicsemergency powers, political instability, chancellorship, Hitler, parliamentary elections
- Weimar RepublicWeimar Republic, Reichstag, National Assembly, emergency powers, presidential powers
coalition governmentsone-party rule
Governance by one faction
majority government · single-party rule · single-party state · one-party state · two-party system
coalition governmentsautocracy
Rule by one
dictatorship · absolute monarchy · totalitarian government · one-party state · authoritarian regime