Minimum winning coalition
Under a minimum winning coalition ( minimum winning coalition ) understand political scientist a coalition , the first, has a majority government (in contrast to a coalition a minority government ), and second is minimal in the sense that each coalition party is required to achieve this majority (as opposed to the oversized coalition ).
In the German party system , such coalitions at federal and state level are the rule if an absolute majority is not achieved. The all-party coalitions practiced at regional level in the early Federal Republic of Germany (see the magic formula in Switzerland) disappeared with the formation of the political camps and the “three-party system” made up of the Union , SPD and FDP . Oversized coalitions have recently been offered by parties that could actually rule with an absolute majority (2003 by the CDU in Hesse , 2006 by the SPD in Rhineland-Palatinate ), but always rejected by the smaller partner because the need for a partner for government work is considered the basis of its influence.
example
Example with five parties, 100 seats, majority with 51 seats:
- A: 40 seats
- B: 30 seats
- C: 15 seats
- D: 8 seats
- E: 7 seats
Minimum winning coalitions in this case are the coalitions: {A, B}, {A, C}, {A, D, E}, {B, C, D} and {B, C, E}. All other coalitions either do not have a majority, which means that they fail to qualify as a winning coalition (e.g. {A, D} with only 48 seats), or contain a party that is not necessary for forming a majority, which is why they are not minimal (e.g. Party D in the coalition {A, B, D}).
The minimum winning coalition with the narrowest majority is also known as the coalition of the narrowest majority ( smallest size coalition , minimum winning coalition ). In the example above this is the coalition {B, C, E} with 52 seats.