A grand coalition is a coalition government in a multi-party parliamentary system where the two largest political parties unite in a coalition. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are two dominant parties with different ideological orientations, and a number of smaller parties large enough to secure representation in the parliament. The two large parties will each try to secure enough seats in any election to have a majority government alone, and if this fails each will attempt to form a coalition with smaller parties that have a similar ideological orientation. Because the two large parties will tend to differ on major ideological issues, and portray themselves as rivals, or even sometimes enemies, they will usually find it more difficult to agree on a common direction for a combined government with each other than with smaller parties.

Causes of a grand coalition

Occasionally circumstances arise where normally opposing parties may find it desirable to form a government. One is a national crisis such as a war or depression, where people feel a need for national unity and stability that overcomes ordinary ideological differences. This is especially true where there is broad agreement about the best policy to deal with the crisis. In this case, a grand coalition may occur even when one party has enough seats to govern alone. An example would be the United Kingdom national governments during World War I and before and during World War II.

Another possibility is that the major parties may find they have more in common ideologically with each other than with the smaller parties, or that the fragmentation of the smaller parties is so great that no other coalition is stable. Examples include Austria, where the mainstream parties of the left and right have often formed grand coalitions to keep parties of the far left or far right out of government (an example of a cordon sanitaire), or Israel, where in some parliaments the fragmentation and intransigence of some of the smaller parties has made it easier to maintain a coherent platform with a grand coalition than with a narrow one. This is often done out of political necessity, to prevent an early election.

In some countries, the presence of persistent grand coalitions often frustrates voters and minor parties, who feel that it offers them no real choice in government. This makes protest votes more common in these countries.

Examples of grand coalitions

See also: Grand Coalition

• The Province of Canada formed the Great Coalition of 1864–1867 which led directly to the Confederation of Canada.
• Canada, the Unionist Party of Canada a war time coalition of Liberals and Conservative from 1917-1920
• United Kingdom — Liberals and Conservatives — 1916–1918
• United Kingdom — Coalition Liberals and Conservatives — 1918–1922
• Israel — Likud and the Alignment/Labour — 1984–1990, 2001–2003 and others
• Switzerland — Coalition between four largest parties since 1959 (also called magic formula)
• Austria — Coalition between People's Party and Social Democratic Party — 1945–1966, 1986–2000 and since 2006
• Bulgaria — Coalition between the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the National Movement for Simeon II and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms — 2005–2009
• Poland — Coalition between the Solidarity (OKP), Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), Democratic Party (SD), and Peasants' Party (SL) — 1989–1990
• Portugal — Coalition between Socialist Party and Social Democratic Party — 1983–1985 (Central Block, Bloco Central)
• Iceland — Between the Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance in 2007-2009.
• U.S. Virgin Islands — since 2007, a grand coalition called the "People's Majority" has existed in the territorial legislature between the Democratic Party, the Independent Citizens Movement and Independents.
• Kenya — Since 2008 Grand Coalition between Party of National Unity (PNU) and Orange Democratic Movement(ODM) formed following the disputed presidential elections of December 2007.
• Netherlands: Between 1945 and 1959 several cabinets were formed in the Netherlands which consisted out of two main parties of the country, the social-democratic PvdA and the Catholic Katholieke Volkspartij, joined by more parties, which were not necessary for a parliamentary majority. The first one of which was the Schermerhorn administration. Other parties were included to give the cabinet and its far-reaching proposals, like the formation of a welfare state, a broad basis in parliament and society. During several other periods a Roman-Red coalition was formed by the PvdA and the KVP
• Romania — Coalition between the Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party — since December 2008
• European Union — Perpetual coalition between almost all parties.

See also

• National government
• Cooperative games
• Hung parliament

References

External links

• Gerd Strohmeier "Grand Coalitions - Political Reasons and Political Impacts"