A Theory of Government Formation

This article presents a theory of the size and party composition of cabinet governments in multiparty democracies. The object of the theory is to improve our understanding of the causal linkages that exist between the choices politicians perceive and the historically determined political and social structures that give meaning to these perceptions and lead politicians repeatedly to make essentially the same choices. A typology of multiparty democracies is employed to capture the decisive political and social structures that give meaning to these perceptions. The structural attributes, in conjunction with a constellation of bargaining relationships, lead to predictable government formation outcomes.

[1]  Jeremy Richardson,et al.  Policy Styles in Western Europe , 1982 .

[2]  S. Berger.  Organizing interests in Western Europe : pluralism, corporatism, and the transformation of politics , 1982 .

[3]  W. E. Thomas,et al.  Social Democratic Parties in Western Europe , 1977 .

[4]  G. Sartori.  Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis , 1977 .

[5]  W. Galenson.  Trade Union Democracy in Western Europe , 1976 .

[6]  R. Dahl.  Political oppositions in Western democracies , 1967 .

[7]  R. Walton,et al.  A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations. , 1966 .

[8]  H. W. Ehrmann,et al.  Interest Groups on Four Continents , 1960 .

[9]  A. Swaan,et al.  Coalition Theory and Government Formation in Multiparty Democracies@@@Coalitions in Parliamentary Government@@@Coalition Theory and Cabinet Formation: A Study of Formal Theories of Coalition Formation Applied to Nine European Parliaments after 1918 , 1983 .

[10]  R. Tomasson.  Iceland, the first new society , 1980 .

[11]  T. Anton.  Administered Politics: Elite Political Culture in Sweden , 1980 .

[12]  S. Henig.  Political parties in the European Community , 1979 .

[13]  R. Gellately,et al.  The Christian Democratic parties of Western Europe , 1979 .

[14]  G. Galli.  Storia della Democrazia cristiana , 1978 .

[15]  P. Diesing,et al.  Conflict Among Nations: Bargaining, Decision Making, and System Structure in International Crises , 1978 .

[16]  Robert B. Kvavik.  Interest groups in Norwegian politics , 1976 .

[17]  R. C. Macridis.  Modern Political Systems: Europe , 1968 .

[18]  Arend Lijphart.  The Politics of Accommodation: Pluralism and Democracy in the Netherlands , 1968 .