Die hessische Landtagswahl vom 28. Oktober 2018: Fortsetzung der schwarz-grünen Wunschehe mit starken Grünen und schwacher CDU

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Debus ◽  
Thorsten Faas

Federal politics has often influenced elections to the Hesse state parliament . This was also true for the election 2018, which was not only decisive for the future of the incumbent black-green coalition government led by Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU), but also for the fate of the federal party chairs of CDU and SPD, Angela Merkel and Andrea Nahles, at the federal level . Compared to previous election campaigns in Hesse, the 2018 campaign was less polarized, visible also in the openness of CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP in terms of forming coalition governments . The election result continued the transformation of the German party system into one with six parliamentary parties . After some vote counting problems, the incumbent coalition, which won a small parliamentary majority, was - in line with established theories of government formation - renewed . As a result of their gains in votes, the Greens’ position was stronger than five years ago, which led to more offices and to a stronger bargaining power in the coalition negotiations .

2021 ◽  
pp. 357-395
Author(s):  
Paul Mitchell

Ireland is a parliamentary democracy created as a result of a revolutionary secession from the United Kingdom. While Ireland has many institutional and administrative features that are quite similar to the Westminster model, there are also some important departures, most notably the adoption of limited government via a written constitution, and the adoption of PR-STV which has facilitated the formation of coalition governments. For most of the twentieth century (up until 1989 at least) a Fianna Fáil single-party government was the default outcome of the government-formation process, though many of these cabinets were ‘large’ minority administrations. The only method of ejecting Fianna Fáil was for the second- and third-largest parties (Fine Gael and Labour) to form a coalition government, which they did on a number of occasions. The bargaining environment permanently changed in 1989 when Fianna Fáil broke the habit of a lifetime and entered its first coalition with the Progressive Democrats. Since then almost all governments have been coalitions. This chapter examines the life cycle of coalition government in Ireland: formation, governance, and dissolution. Coalition agreements have evolved over the decades and have become much more important, detailed, and hence more lengthy. The coalition programme plays a key role in the work of the cabinet and the relations between the parties. The increasingly detailed coalition agreements are a very important commitment device during the life cycle of coalition governments. The increasing fragmentation of the party system has meant that coalition formation bargaining has become more challenging.


Author(s):  
Laurențiu Ștefan

In Romania, a highly segmented and extremely volatile party system has contributed to a predominance of coalition governments. Alternation in power by coalitions led by either left-wing or right-wing parties used to be a major feature of Romanian governments. Thus, until a short-lived grand coalition in 2009, ideologically homogeneous coalitions were the general practice. Since then, parties from the right and left of the political spectrum have learned to work together in government. Given the semi-presidential nature of the political regime and the exclusive power to nominate the prime minister, the Romanian president plays an important role in coalition formation. The president also plays a pivotal role by shadowing the prime minister and therefore influencing the governance of coalitions. She has the power to veto ministerial appointments and therefore she can also shape the cabinet line-up. Pre-election coalitions are a common feature, more than two-thirds of Romanian coalition governments have been predicated on such agreements. Coalition agreements dealt with both policy issues and coalition decision-making bodies and the governance mechanisms that have been in most cases enforced and complied with—until the break-up of the coalition and the downfall of the respective government. One very common decision-making body is the Coalition Committee, which has been backed on the operational level by an inner cabinet made up of the prime minister and the deputy prime ministers, which usually are the heads of the junior coalition parties.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludger Helms

While the Federal Republic has been famously characterized as a "grand coalition state," the Merkel government, formed in the after-math of the 2005 federal election, is only the second CDU/CSU-SPD coalition at the federal level since 1949. A comparison of the present administration with the first grand coalition government (1966-1969) reveals a wealth of differences that include some of the basic parameters of governing and governance in Germany, such as the structure of the party system and the overall public climate. Also, the personnel features and patterns of informal coalition governance under Chancellors Angela Merkel and Kurt-Georg Kiesinger display major differences. Arguably the single most important difference between the two administrations, however, relates to the level of public policy, with the Merkel government seeking to reverse some of the key decisions of its historical predecessor. Such u-turn dynamics have been particularly tangible in the field of federal system reform.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-99
Author(s):  
John Mickel ◽  
John Wanna

AbstractThis article sets out to explain how the relatively unremarkable 2018 by-election result in which a sitting Labor candidate held her seat with a mediocre swing towards her resulted in the panicked removal of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from office and his immediate resignation from the parliament. The combined Queensland state Coalition party, the Liberal National Party, convinced itself that it could win the marginal outer-metropolitan seat of Longman in Queensland but when its expectations were dashed, it became spooked and set in train a chain of events that ousted Turnbull and installed Scott Morrison as prime minister. Turnbull was widely seen by the Coalition party room as having run a lack-lustre campaign in the 2016 federal election, and not having performed well in the 2018 by-election campaigns. Perhaps unwisely, Turnbull made the Longman by-election a direct leadership contest between himself and opposition leader Bill Shorten. However, Labor’s tactics in the by-election ‘outmanned, outspent and out-campaigned’ the Coalition’s faltering campaign in the seat, causing the relatively unremarkable outcome in Longman to become a catalyst for a challenge to Turnbull’s leadership. When parliament reconvened, Peter Dutton became the ‘stalking horse’ who resulted in the rise of Scott Morrison to the top office.


1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Ingo Von Münch

In September and October 1998 Professor von Münch was a visiting fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Public Law.  During an extremely busy visit, Professor von Münch gave a number of seminars on aspects of German Constitutional and Electoral Law.  These seminars, given by both a leading Constitutional and Electoral Law academic and a former deputy prime minister of the State of Hamburg and former member of the Bundesrat, or German Senate, were timely given the trials and tribulations of New Zealand's first MMP Coalition Government which had then just ended in the sacking of the minor party's leader as Deputy Prime Minister.  In contrast to much of the contemporary gloom at the perceived failed hope of MMP, Professor von Münch presented a hopeful view of both the electoral system that New Zealand had imported from Germany and of the possibilities of Coalition Government. The following is an enlarged text of a speech, delivered to the Public Law section of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice.


Subject Israeli voting trends and government stability. Significance Israel's political landscape has been fragmented throughout the country's history, with elections regularly producing unstable coalition governments. There have been 34 governments in the 67 years since the state's founding. Earlier this year parliamentary elections produced yet another coalition government headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his centre right Likud party. Netanyahu was only able to return to power with a coalition of the narrowest possible majority (61 out of 120 seats). This reflects longer-term trends in Israeli politics that will play a major role in the shape and stability of its governments in the years to come. Impacts Long-term economic planning will become harder as smaller parties exact financial concessions for their communities in coalition talks. Centrist parties will have declining influence over policy as low turnout afflicts their support base. Relations with the United States and Europe will become more tense, increasing the risk of Israel's international isolation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-76
Author(s):  
Sebastian Jäckle

This paper explores the determinants of ministerial duration within the German Länder between 1990 and 2010. In arguing that different terminal events ceasing ministerial tenures should be analyzed separately, it distinguishes four exit types: voluntary, forced, collective (ministers leaving office because their whole party does so) and exits that are neither volitional acts of the minister nor politically induced. Depending on the exit type, competing-risks Cox-models show different effects for one and the same variable on the hazard for ministerial turnover. Seniority in high-level politics for example helps not to be forced out of office while it has no effect on voluntary or collective exits. Heading an important ministry on the other hand increases the chances to rise to other positions in high politics or private business, but does not impact the other two hazards. The analysis furthermore shows that the principal-agent-logic known from Westminster systems with the prime minister being largely sovereign in hiring and firing cabinet members must be adapted to the German context of frequent coalition governments. In coalition governments, only ministers from the same party as the prime minister exhibit higher hazards for forced exits, while ministers from other coalition partners are much safer in that regard.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adegbola Ojo ◽  
Richard Evans ◽  
Jay Karecha

Abstract This article explains the depth and breadth of financial cuts endured by community safety organizations across Merseyside. The article provides a robust explanation of how cuts to funding impacted on the delivery of public safety priorities under the coalition government (2010–15). This study implemented a mixed-methods approach which entailed in-depth consultations with the major community safety stakeholders within the region. Results reveal that over the course of the immediate past parliament, Merseyside Local Authorities within the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) and the police force area had to restructure staffing and service provision extensively in order to deliver efficiency savings of over £650 m. Budget cuts have had severe repercussions not just in terms of stakeholder’s capability to provide key services but also for the morale of their staff. We project a further 33% cutback in funding over the course of the current parliament though subsequent more favourable Government announcements suggest a more modest figure of up to 15%. This undoubtedly will result in the further streamlining of public services with potentially serious ramifications for levels of public safety.


2021 ◽  
pp. 41-80
Author(s):  
Wolfgang C. Müller

Grand coalition government of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP and the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) had been the hallmark of post-war Austria but the historic ‘grand coalition’ formula seems exhausted. The rationale for maintaining this cooperation vanished, electoral changes undermined the former duopoly of these parties, and party system changes brought new players into the game. Yet at the government level alternatives involving the Freedom Party (FPÖ) have proved unstable as in each case an FPÖ event brought down the government or prevented its renewal. The chapter shows how routine formateur-led processes of coalition formation resulting in anticipated outcomes contrast with a few instances which significantly deviate. Coalition governance is characterized by the use of an elaborated set of rules and instruments and great continuity over time and different types of coalition. Accordingly, the underlying principle of coalition politics has been the ‘coalition compromise’ model, with government policies to be largely agreed between the coalition partners. In practice, ministerial discretion tends to shift government policy output towards the model of ‘constrained ministerial government’. Most coalitions terminated early because of inter-party conflict.


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