Pre-electoral Alliances, Coalition Rejections, and Multiparty Governments

Download or read book Pre-electoral Alliances, Coalition Rejections, and Multiparty Governments written by Marc Debus and published by Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. This book was released on 2007 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Governing in coalitions is a central research field in comparative political science. This book explores how pre-electoral alliances and rejections of potential coalitions influence party competition and coalition politics in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The study shows that in contrast to the classical perspective, coalition politics is determined not only by ideological diversity, but also by institutional and behavioralist factors. Beside a descriptive analysis of the policy-area specific positions of each party and an evaluation of the determinants of coalition formation, the payoff structure in coalition governments is under consideration. The analysis reveals that "key parties" receive a surpassing share of both office and policy payoffs.