Approximately one-third of parliamentary democracies are or are typically ruled by a minority government-a situation where the party or parties represented at cabinet do not between them hold a majority of seats in the national legislature. Minority governments are particularly interesting in parliamentary systems, where the government is politically responsible to parliament, can be removed by it, and needs (majority) support in the parliament to legislate.
The chapters in this volume explore and analyze the formation, functioning, and performance of minority governments, what we term the why, how, and how well. The volume begins with overviews of the concept of and puzzles surrounding minority governments in parliamentary systems, and establishes the current terms of the debate. In the thirteen chapters that follow, leading country experts present in-depth case studies that provide rich, contextualized analyses of minority governments in different settings. The final chapter draws broader, comparative-based conclusions from the country studies that push the literature forward and outline directions for future research on minority governments.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I: Introduction
1. The Politics of Minority Government, Bonnie N. Field and Shane Martin
2. The Why, How, and How Well of Minority Governments, Bonnie N. Field and Shane Martin
Part II: Where Minority Governments are Predominant
3. Minority Governments in India: Party System Federalization and the Emergence of Contract Parliamentarism, Csaba Nikolenyi
4. Norway: A Land of Minority Governments, Kaare W. Strøm
5. Minority Governments in Romania: A Case of Stable Instability, Veronica Anghel
6. Minority Governments in Spain: Government Strengthening Institutions in a Multilevel State, Bonnie N. Field
7. Minority Governments in Sweden: Majority Cabinets in Disguise, Hanna Bäck and Johan Hellström
Part III: Where Minority Governments are Common
8. Minority Governments in Canada: Stability through Voting Alliances, Jean-François Godbout and Christopher Cochrane
9. Minority Governments in France: A Mix of Presidential and Parliamentary Logics, Olivier Rozenberg
10. Ireland: Minority Government with a Majoritarian Twist, Liam Weeks
11. Minority Governments in Italy: From Structural Stability to Political Change, Daniela Giannetti
12. Minority Governments in Poland: Governing after Crisis with Ad Hoc Majorities, Radoslaw Zubek
13. Minority Governments in Portugal: Institutions as Solutions to Historical Legacies, Jorge M. Fernandes
Part IV: Where Minority Governments are Exceptional
14. Minority Government in Australia: Lesson Learning and Making it Work, Kate Crowley (with Cath Hughes)
15. Minority Governments in the United Kingdom: Nearly-Winning Minorities and Lost Majorities, Andrew Jones and Richard Whitaker
16. Comparative Conclusions on Minority Governments, Bonnie N. Field and Shane Martin
