coalition

(government)

   A coalition is an alliance between groups or parties for some temporary or specific reason. A coalition government is one in which power is shared between two or more parties, based on the distribution among them of ministerial portfolios and some agreement on the policies to be pursued. They take joint responsibility for the policies they collectively pursue. Several types of coalition can be distinguished: the grand coalition in which two main parties share political power (as in the case of the National Government formed in 1931 at a time of national emergency and the German administration formed in 2005); the multi-party coalition involving three, four or even five parties (as in the case of many Italian governments since 1945), which may be a rainbow coalition involving several colours from the ideological spectrum; the two-party coalition involving one major and one minor party (as in the case of most German governments since 1945); and less formal agreements by which a small party agrees to sustain another in office, without assuming governmental responsibilities (as in the case of the Liberal–Labour pact of 1977–8). Coalitions are often portrayed as being weak and unstable: they are said to make it difficult for the voter to pinpoint responsibility on one party or the other for particular policies. On the other hand, they help to moderate the partisan tendencies inherent in single-party government, keep politics moderate and consensual and have legitimacy, in that the parties in office have usually received the backing of the majority of the voters.