> In a multi-party system (as opposed to a two-party system), one party > rarely (if ever) gets that big a share of the votes. To form a > government, the party with the most votes will try to form a coalition > with one or more of the other major parties, not just to create a > majority, but to create as big a majority possible -- which means > broader support for the government.
Well, it doesn't work that way all the time, but I was referring to Germany: Lets look at the last election results:
SPD 41.6% CDU/CSU 41.1% Green 9.1% FDP 7.8% PDS 0.3%
The support of the Green party, with 9.1% of the vote is a required member of any government. This makes them the kingmaker for any new government.
Not necessarily. The SPD and CDU/CSU could also form a coalition; that would give them an 82.7% majority.
But even if the SPD and the Greens would form a coalition, that wouldn't make the Greens all-powerful. To form a coalition, both sides need to compromise. And should some major dispute arise between the SPD and the Greens, then the Greens still wouldn't be able to force anything, simply because within the coalition the SPD holds roughly 80% of the votes.
Jeroen "Political Observations" van Baardwijk
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