ABSTRACT
Coalition government is a form of government in which two or more political parties form the executive – if possible until next elections. This chapter provides context of coalition agreement production in theoretical terms: it is about properties of bargaining systems in which parties coalesce. The most significant theoretical and analytical innovations were made with respect to the role of policy in coalition building. First, coalition bargaining increasingly was seen to involve more than one policy dimension and take place in an institutional context that may differ across countries. The second innovation in coalition research was made by Laver and Shepsle, who focused on the role of cabinet ministers in policy making. A bargaining system is an analytical model for representing relationships between relevant parties – within and outside government. A political party is relevant if it has the potential to participate in a government. Laver & Schofield distinguish between three types of bargaining systems: unipolar, bipolar and multipolar systems.
