Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Week 9: Multiparty System (Timmermans: Exploring coalition agreements…
Week 9: Multiparty System
Timmermans:
Exploring coalition agreements
Benefits of coalition agreements
Reduces mistrust between parties --> more peace, more implementation of policies
Which & how many issues to include
The larger the number of parties involved in the coalition, the narrower the scope has to be, if not negotiations may be endless
Include prominent issues of contention and disagreement between parties --> helps to reduce distrust and uncertainty more
3 types of deals in coalitions
Explicit compromises
reduces the amount of conflict during policy implementation process
But does not guarantee implementation, or may be implemented in a different way than in the agreement
Implicit compromises
Reduces the cost (time and effort) of making the coalition agreement, but increases conflict during policy implementation as there are no clear instructions
Procedural arrangements: do not address issues directly, but what to do in times of conflict. Non-decision making
May still be a cost to some parties that want to change the status quo
Success of coalition enforcement depends on
Institutions: the cabinet: better to place those who played a role in negotiating the agreement in cabinet positions as they have a higher stake in enforcing it
Strategy: parties are opportunistic, in order for the enforcement to last, there needs to be stable payoffs so parties have incentive to remain within the coalition
Institutions: the party: party leader need to ensure strong party discipline, prevent backbenchers from defecting
Strategy: agenda management: PM as the head of the cabinet needs to set the agenda
Mainwaring: look at summary
Keman
: role of pivot parties in coalitions
Pivot parties
Parties that occupy the center space (policies between left and right)
Parties that have high office seeking power (seats in parliament)
Usually hold the Premiership (PM)
Play an important role: to facilitate coalitions because pivot parties can bridge peripheral parties. Peripheral parties prefer pivot parties as well because they are less ideologically different than peripheral parties at the other end of the spectrum
The more central a party is, the better its position to bridge the other disjointed parties
Osie Hwedie
: Role of ethnicity in multi-party politics
Patronage ties make it harder to overcome ethnic divisions
Elites in political parties politicise ethnic divisions in order to win electoral support --> thus no need for coalitions to win support
Politicians then partake in patronage politics: they give economic resources, jobs, and government positions to those in their own ethnic group --> creates the belief among the voters that in order to be represented and have access to resources, their ethnic group needs to hold positions of power in government --> further cements ethnic divisions
Need to achieve proportionality in cabinet to maintain stability
Malawi: instability coalition government could not agree on distribution of posts to ethnic groups in cabinet
Zambia: instability because even though cabinet posts were distributed among the various ethnic groups, the distribution was disproportional and a large portion went to the Bemba speaking group