Bulletin n. 1-2/2014
November 2014
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Spier Tim
    Große Koalitionen in den deutschen Bundesländern 1949-2013
    in Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft , Heft 4, 2013 ,  2013
    Grand Coalitions in the German Federal States 1949-2013 Game-theoretic coalition theories have problems explaining the formation of grand coalitions, defined as coalitions of both major parties CDU/CSU and SPD in German context, because they fit the logic of office- and policy-maximization only to a limited extent. This paper wants to contribute to a better understanding of these grand coalitions by examining their structure and the determinants of their formation quantitative-empirically on the level of the German federal states from 1949 to 2013. It is shown that certain party system characteristics, like high fragmentation or an asymmetry towards the left-wing political camp, correlate with the formation of such coalitions. Especially the share of pariah parties excluded from coalition formation and the absence of an alternative minimal winning coalition in both political camps are good predictors of their formation.
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