The Logic of Pre-electoral Coalition Formation

The Logic of Pre-electoral Coalition Formation
Author: Sona Nadenichek Golder
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2006
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0814210295

Why do some parties coordinate their electoral strategies as part of a pre-electoral coalition, while others choose to compete independently at election time? Scholars have long ignored pre-electoral coalitions in favor of focusing on the government coalitions that form after parliamentary elections. Yet electoral coalitions are common, they affect electoral outcomes, and they have important implications for democratic policy-making itself. The Logic of Pre-Electoral Coalition Formation by Sona Nadenichek Golder includes a combination of methodological approaches (game theoretic, statistical, and historical) to explain why pre-electoral coalitions form in some instances but not in others. The results indicate that pre-electoral coalitions are more likely to form between ideologically compatible parties. They are also more likely to form when the expected coalition size is large (but not too large) and when the potential coalition partners are similar in size. Ideologically polarized party systems and disproportional electoral rules in combination also increase the likelihood of electoral coalition formation. Golder links the analysis of pre-electoral coalition formation to the larger government coalition literature by showing that pre-electoral agreements increase (a) the likelihood that a party will enter government, (b) the ideological compatibility of governments, and (c) the speed with which governments take office. In addition, pre-electoral coalitions provide an opportunity for combining the best elements of the majoritarian vision of democracy with the best elements of the proportional vision of democracy.

Logic of Preelectoral Coalition Formation

Logic of Preelectoral Coalition Formation
Author: Sona Nadenichek Golder
Publisher:
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2021-01-29
Genre:
ISBN: 9780814257210

Why do some parties coordinate their electoral strategies as part of a pre-electoral coalition, while others choose to compete independently at election time? Scholars have long ignored pre-electoral coalitions in favor of focusing on the government coalitions that form after parliamentary elections. Yet electoral coalitions are common, they affect electoral outcomes, and they have important implications for democratic policy-making itself. The Logic of Pre-Electoral Coalition Formation by Sona Nadenichek Golder includes a combination of methodological approaches (game theoretic, statistical, and historical) to explain why pre-electoral coalitions form in some instances but not in others. The results indicate that pre-electoral coalitions are more likely to form between ideologically compatible parties. They are also more likely to form when the expected coalition size is large (but not too large) and when the potential coalition partners are similar in size. Ideologically polarized party systems and disproportional electoral rules in combination also increase the likelihood of electoral coalition formation. Golder links the analysis of pre-electoral coalition formation to the larger government coalition literature by showing that pre-electoral agreements increase (a) the likelihood that a party will enter government, (b) the ideological compatibility of governments, and (c) the speed with which governments take office. In addition, pre-electoral coalitions provide an opportunity for combining the best elements of the majoritarian vision of democracy with the best elements of the proportional vision of democracy.

The Political Economy of Pre-electoral Coalitions

The Political Economy of Pre-electoral Coalitions
Author: Miguel Garza Casado
Publisher:
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2020
Genre: Electoral coalitions
ISBN:

Pre-electoral coalitions have been largely ignored in Presidential systems. In this dissertation I study the case of Mexico where since 1991 a pre-electoral coalition has been formed by two non-contiguous parties; the far-right party (PAN) and the far-left party (PRD). Despite dramatic differences in policy agendas, they have won important elections at the state and municipal level. The creation of this coalition creates a puzzle that is not addressed by existing theories such as spatial models, party alignment, incumbency advantage, federalism, electoral budget cycles and ideological expenditures. The first chapter of this dissertation answers the following questions: Will voters support their preferred party despite the non-contiguous coalition? Will voters punish coalition members if it breaks while in office? Will coalitions stay together through multiple electoral cycles? This chapter develops a Game Theoretical Bayesian model to analyze voters' electoral behavior. The main finding is a separating equilibrium in the multiple-period game. Reputation effects will lead to a long-term collaboration while in the short-term the coalition will break. Voters support these coalitions if they stay together once in office and implement a policy platform that maximizes their payoffs. The second chapter introduces the concept of "Partial Alignment'', created by a pre-electoral coalition in power, and its effects on resource allocation. Do municipalities where pre-electoral coalition governments win an election receive significantly more or fewer resources from the federal and state level governments than those where the coalition loses? The theoretical answer is ambiguous: Partial alignment could lead to more resources in an effort to keep the party in power - even as part of a coalition - or fewer resource due to the desire to stop sharing power in order to govern alone. Analysis uses a Regression Discontinuity Design with a matched dataset that combines data on municipality level income with municipal election results between 1989 and 2016. Results show that municipalities where the pre-electoral coalition barely won received fewer federal resources in the year of the election and the year before. The third chapter looks at how the pre-electoral coalition spend their resources. Do pre-electoral coalitions spend differently than single party governments? Will pre-electoral coalition governments increase expenditure after the election or wait until the next electoral cycle? Will they strategically pick between short and long-term expenditures to signal voters their competence? Analysis uses a Regression Discontinuity Design and a Fixed Effects Panel Model with a matched dataset that combines data on municipality level expenditures with municipal election results between 1989 and 2016. Results show that municipalities where the pre-electoral coalition barely won create a new electoral budget cycle by increasing expenditures during their first year in office. It is also shown that these governments are not strategic when selecting between short and long-term expenditures to signal voters their competence in office.

Pre-electoral Alliances, Coalition Rejections, and Multiparty Governments

Pre-electoral Alliances, Coalition Rejections, and Multiparty Governments
Author: Marc Debus
Publisher: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Governing in coalitions is a central research field in comparative political science. This book explores how pre-electoral alliances and rejections of potential coalitions influence party competition and coalition politics in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The study shows that in contrast to the classical perspective, coalition politics is determined not only by ideological diversity, but also by institutional and behavioralist factors. Beside a descriptive analysis of the policy-area specific positions of each party and an evaluation of the determinants of coalition formation, the payoff structure in coalition governments is under consideration. The analysis reveals that "key parties" receive a surpassing share of both office and policy payoffs.

Mixed-Member Electoral Systems in Constitutional Context

Mixed-Member Electoral Systems in Constitutional Context
Author: Nathan F. Batto
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2016-04-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0472119737

An examination of the ways in which the introduction of mixed-member electoral systems affects the configuration of political parties

Elections as Instruments of Democracy

Elections as Instruments of Democracy
Author: G. Bingham Powell
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2000-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780300080162

This text explores elections as instruments of democracy. Focusing on elections in 20 democracies over the last 25 years, it examines the differences between two visions of democracy - the majoritarian vision and the proportional influence vision.

Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective

Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective
Author: Paul Chaisty
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2018
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0198817207

This book provides the first cross-regional study of an increasingly important form of politics: coalitional presidentialism. Drawing on original research of minority presidents in the democratising and hybrid regimes of Armenia, Benin, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Kenya, Malawi, Russia, and Ukraine, it seeks to understand how presidents who lack single party legislative majorities build and manage cross-party support in legislative assemblies. It develops a framework for analysing this phenomenon, and blends data from MP surveys, detailed case studies, and wider legislative and political contexts, to analyse systematically the tools that presidents deploy to manage their coalitions. The authors focus on five key legislative, cabinet, partisan, budget, and informal (exchange of favours) tools that are utilised by minority presidents. They contend that these constitute the 'toolbox' for coalition management, and argue that minority presidents will act with imperfect or incomplete information to deploy tools that provide the highest return of political support with the lowest expenditure of political capital. In developing this analysis, the book assembles a set of concepts, definitions, indicators, analytical frameworks, and propositions that establish the main parameters of coalitional presidentialism. In this way, Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective provides crucial insights into this mode of governance. Oxford Studies in Democratization is a series for scholars and students of comparative politics and related disciplines. Volumes concentrate on the comparative study of the democratization process that accompanied the decline and termination of the cold war. The geographical focus of the series is primarily Latin America, the Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Europe, and relevant experiences in Africa and Asia. The series editor is Laurence Whitehead, Senior Research Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.