ABSTRACT
In polities where minority administrations are common and may even be the norm, we should adopt a broader definition of what constitutes participation in government and examine ‘new’ parties that have provided legislative support to, as well as actually joined, coalitions. New Zealand and Sweden have both developed innovative contractual forms of handling minority administration and can therefore provide us with case studies of both newly governing and ‘nearly governing’ parties. Interrogating their experiences suggests that the organisational, ideological and electoral risks are not currently perceived as high enough to put such parties off bargaining for office. The benefits of coaliton and cooperation may not be large in policy terms, but in the long run they may lead to more opportunities to play a more consistent role in government.
