Coalition Dynamics: Advances in the Study of the Coalition Life Cycle

Author(s)
Wolfgang C. Müller, Hanna Bäck, Johan Hellström
Abstract

In parliamentary democracies, elections distribute the seats in parliament, but who gets into government and determines the policy agenda over the course of the legislative term is decided upon after the elections, in negotiations between the political parties. This introduction to the special issue discusses research concerning dynamic approaches to coalition governments. A dynamic approach implies that what happens at the electoral stage influences the government formation stage, which in turn shapes what happens during the government’s tenure, which may influence the cabinet’s durability. Hence, this type of research tries to analyse various stages of a government’s ‘life cycle’ from its ‘birth’ to its ‘death’ as interdependent processes, rather than examining them in mutual isolation. These processes may be restricted to the confines of a self-contained universe of politicians and political parties, or they may involve ‘external’ events, such as, for example, elections, or the state of the economy. In addition to having a dynamic approach to analysing coalitions, the contributions in the special issue use brand-new comparative data from several independent research projects investigating various aspects of coalition politics.

Organisation(s)
Department of Government
External organisation(s)
Lund University, Umeå University
Journal
West European Politics
Volume
47
Pages
1-30
No. of pages
30
ISSN
0140-2382
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2023.2249316
Publication date
08-2023
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
506014 Comparative politics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Political Science and International Relations
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/coalition-dynamics-advances-in-the-study-of-the-coalition-life-cycle(4c7bec40-5947-4c1f-90be-fa27510472c0).html