How Europe Makes Constant Coalition Governments Work - TLDR News

Some countries (notably the UK) hate the idea of coalition governments. However, other countries across Europe demonstrate that not only can they be done, but successfully. So in this video, we explain how Europe makes near-constant coalition governments work.

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[maxenetti]

Coalitions aren't perfect. But they reflect the idea of compromise that is the fundamental key to a democracy

[aplanosgc]

TLDR : while Britain favors a strong majority, Europe prefers coalitions.

France : I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still, that I become invisible to the eye.

[masterluuk]

From the Netherlands, and it is true that a larger amount of parties makes agreeing on issues a lot more difficult. However, the large number of parties is just a representation of the large variety of opinions within the Netherlands.
I know I'm at least happy I do not have a two party system where I need to vote for the least bad party, but actually can pick out of a variety of parties the one I agree with most.

[ThoriberoCaroli]

Ah. Deliberative democracy. The idea that you actually need to talk with your political opponents once in a while for the good of the country. :)

[minecrafter]

On the other hand single party rule polarizes and can divide a nation.

[Vaniljebjoern]

It seems like TLDR and other media from countries with a two party system constantly forgets, that there are multiple countries were you don't need a majority in parlament to govern; you just need to not have a majority against you. Therefor coalitions aren't that difficult in those countries.

[bruh]

Next video: how Americans make single party governments fail

[SteveWithers]

New Zealand moved to proportional representation in 1996 and has done very well with coalitions ever since. It's actually better. Governments and policies are more stable over time and voters get to vote for - and elect - people they want from a variety of parties. Coalitions generally result in a political culture where people are more prepared to cooperate in order to win policy action for their voters. Lastly, coalitions ARE elected. Usually, voters know who will work with who and vote accordingly. The coalition parties will collectively be elected by a majority of voters. Much better than one party a majority DIDN'T the UK. No thanks to that.

[prometheus]

Me who comes from Singapore and has never seen another party other than the PAP in power: Interesting

[oskarherbst]

You didn‘t mentioned the arguments for a coalition:
-first of all it’s more democratic when an election isn‘t just win or lose, with a coalition the „loser“ still has influence (which is important, because when a party elected by 45% of the voters don‘t have to say a word how the country should be run, I wouldn’t call it democracy and more an dictatorship of the mayority)
-by finding a compromise the party’s are less likely to do something from a populist agenda, because they have to agree with the other coalition partners on the topic, so the most of the decisions are more reasonable

[sashasscribbles]

Parties that get absolute majorities are hidden coalitions anyway. Like theres no way that the labour left and labour center-right would be in the same party if they had a choice.

Majority systems though, make it very easy for the larger group within a party to silence the rest

Bernie and other left wing democrats in the US is another example and I'm certain this is also the case for right wing parties

Big parties fracturing into smaller ones is actually really healthy imo and helps voters vote for what they actually want; proportional representation is the way to do that.

[IlhamFahreza]

Coalition is actually a good thing. Even though it is not perfect, it moderates government agenda to prevent any extreme policies or forcing some party’s ideologies into a law. It also means that check and balances is not only done by the opposition, it also done by the coalition member. In other sense, it pretty much represents what democracy means: moderation and teamwork

[cdcdrr]

Countries with systems that encourage absolute majorities tend to be highly polarized and its people distrusting, even hating the 'other side' even to the point of completely ignoring any fault within their own ranks for the purpose of not letting the 'other' gain any ground. This is simply destructive.

Coalitions encourage working together to find solutions most find acceptable. The average person may not like the parties they don't support, but won't alienate people who ascribe to their platform so quickly if they think the parties can work together. And might even have begrudging respect for a party they strongly disagree with, but which still proves reliable and flexible.

[OzoneTheLynx]

As a Swiss this is so weird. We don't have coalition governments, because our government of 7 people is split between the historically biggest parties( some parties have 2). Now with the recent "green wave" the distribution might change though. We always compromise and build coalitions for every topic, because a public vote could get forced on basically anything, so any law needs at least reasonable public support across the political spectrum.

[robertwinslade]

Better than a FPTP system where you can easily get stuck with a ruling party that most people don't want in power

[martinstent]

A coalition government has a very important feature which single party governments lack: The Coalition Contract or Agreement. This is a written public document outlining what the current coalition government will actually do during its time in government, as opposed to the vague promises from a single party government. If you actually sign a contract to (say) abolish university fees inside of 4 years, that commits you in a completely different way to just having a paragraph in a political party manifesto to that effect.

[napoleonibonaparte]

Germany: Where a centre coalition always works because they want to avoid having to deal with extremists and hardliners.

[JustAGuyWhoLikesStuff.]

In Finland we literally have a five party coalition and it works well.

[firestarwaca]

Isn't compromise a key part of politics

[koipen]

One obvious thing I wish would have been covered is the effect of coalitions on political culture; in countries with coalition governments, political discourse tends to be more constructive rather than combatitive, as parties are wary of closing off doors for cooperation after the next election. This in turn fends of polarisation and virulent discourse - sometimes at the expense of extreme alternatives, be that for the better or worse.

Another thing that I would have love to seen discussed is the effect of the government type on institutions; UK over the last few years is a great example of how one-party-rule can lead to declining standards in institutional integrity and following the mores of parliamentary democracy. This one-party rule is in turn facilitated by the same electoral system enabling parties to gain large majorities with only 40-45% of the popular vote.