ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that in most European democracies liberal parties are not only represented in parliament but have also been in office at some point in time. In fact, liberal parties have been unusually successful at getting into government and have been in power to an extent that far exceeds their electoral or parliamentary strength. The chapter provides a comparative examination of the patterns of government participation, or lack thereof, of liberal parties in 28 European democracies from 1945–2015. It looks at the control of ministries, and thus potential policy impact. The chapter utilizes a new and updated dataset on ministerial portfolio allocation to be able to investigate which kind of portfolios Liberal parties tend to get and how frequently they have obtained portfolios in the European countries under study. It summarizes the findings and discussing what might lie ahead for Europe's liberal parties.
