IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v174y2018i1d10.1007_s11127-017-0489-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gaining new insights by going local: determinants of coalition formation in mixed democratic polities

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Gross

    () (University of Munich)

  • Marc Debus

    () (University of Mannheim)

Abstract

Abstract We develop a simple spatial model suggesting that Members of Parliament strive for the inclusion of the head of state’s party in coalitions formed in mixed democratic polities, and that parliamentary parties try to assemble coalitions that minimize the ideological distance to the head of state. We identify the German local level of government as functionally equivalent to a parliamentary setting, such that the directly elected mayor has competencies similar to a president in a mixed national polity. Our findings show that the party affiliation of the head of state is a key factor considered by party members in the legislature when forming coalitions: coalitions in the legislature are more likely to form if they include the party of the head of the executive branch. Furthermore, the policy preferences of the head of the executive branch matter for the legislators’ behavior in the coalition formation process: the smaller the ideological distance between the position of a coalition and the position of the head of state, the more likely a coalition is to be formed.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Gross & Marc Debus, 2018. "Gaining new insights by going local: determinants of coalition formation in mixed democratic polities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 61-80, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:174:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11127-017-0489-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-017-0489-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-017-0489-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glasgow, Garrett & Golder, Matt & Golder, Sona N., 2012. "New Empirical Strategies for the Study of Parliamentary Government Formation," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 248-270, April.
    2. Cheibub, José Antonio & Elkins, Zachary & Ginsburg, Tom, 2014. "Beyond Presidentialism and Parliamentarism," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 515-544, July.
    3. Schleiter, Petra & Morgan-Jones, Edward, 2009. "Review Article: Citizens, Presidents and Assemblies: The Study of Semi-Presidentialism beyond Duverger and Linz," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 871-892, October.
    4. Amorim Neto, Octavio & Strã˜M, Kaare, 2006. "Breaking the Parliamentary Chain of Delegation: Presidents and Non-partisan Cabinet Members in European Democracies," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(4), pages 619-643, October.
    5. repec:gig:joupla:v:3:y:2011:i:1:p:3-28 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. José Cheibub & Jennifer Gandhi & James Vreeland, 2010. "Democracy and dictatorship revisited," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 67-101, April.
    7. Florian Ade, 2014. "Do constitutions matter? Evidence from a natural experiment at the municipality level," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 367-389, September.
    8. Marc Debus, 2009. "Pre-electoral commitments and government formation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 45-64, January.
    9. Cheibub, Jos㉠Antonio & Przeworski, Adam & Saiegh, Sebastian M., 2004. "Government Coalitions and Legislative Success Under Presidentialism and Parliamentarism," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(4), pages 565-587, October.
    10. Glasgow, Garrett & Golder, Sona N., 2015. "A New Approach to the Study of Parties Entering Government," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 739-754, October.
    11. Laver, Michael & Benoit, Kenneth & Garry, John, 2003. "Extracting Policy Positions from Political Texts Using Words as Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(2), pages 311-331, May.
    12. Martin, Lanny W. & Stevenson, Randolph T., 2010. "The Conditional Impact of Incumbency on Government Formation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 104(3), pages 503-518, August.
    13. Oleh Protsyk, 2006. "Intra-Executive Competition between President and Prime Minister: Patterns of Institutional Conflict and Cooperation under Semi-Presidentialism," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54, pages 219-244, June.
    14. Chiba, Daina & Martin, Lanny W. & Stevenson, Randolph T., 2015. "A Copula Approach to the Problem of Selection Bias in Models of Government Survival," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 42-58, January.
    15. Crombez, Christophe & Hix, Simon, 2015. "Legislative Activity and Gridlock in the European Union," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 477-499, July.
    16. Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik, 2014. "The Politics of Patronage and Coalition: How Parties Allocate Managerial Positions in State-Owned Enterprises," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 62(2), pages 398-417, June.
    17. Robert Elgie & Iain McMenamin, 2011. "Explaining the Onset of Cohabitation under Semi‐presidentialism," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 59(3), pages 616-635, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:174:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11127-017-0489-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Sonal Shukla) or (Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.