Publisher's Synopsis
The politics of coalition lies at the very heart of the political process in most European countries. Coalition can be analysed either theoretically or empirically; the aim of "Multiparty Government" is to reconcile these approaches. Students of European politics are given access to the insights of contemporary coalition theory while this theory is put in the context of the real world of coalition politics.;The authors examine five basic themes: the identity and motivation of the actors in the coalition game; the eventual membership of the coalitions they form; their durability; the payoffs that are shared out by coalition members; and the impact of constitutional, behavioural and historical constraints on the process of coalition bargaining. They illustrate their discussion of theory with a range of detailed case studies.;"Multiparty Government" offers an accessible approach that bridges the gap between the "European politics" and "game theory" traditions of political science and puts the systematic study of the politics of coalition on the broader political science map.
