Coalition government in Britain: lessons from overseas

Following a two year research project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Unit has published a major report on coalition government. The research was based on study visits to four overseas countries—Denmark, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand—in which seventy interviews were conducted with policy makiers. The aim of the project was to identify and analyse the way that coalitions are formed and operate in these four cases, with a view to deriving policy lessons for the new coalitions in Scotland and Wales, as well as for Westminster should coalitions become the norm at this tier.

The report analyses the following issues

The role of elections

The constitutional rules covering the formation and termination of governments

Negotiating a coalition

The coalition agreement

The political management of coalitions

Strategies available to minortity governments

Coalitions at the subnational level