CPO-2002 Lecture 51: Lecture 51
Document Summary
An implication of the office-seeking logic is that you will not want more parties in government than are strictly necessary to obtain a legislative majority. As a result, you will form a particular type of coalition government called a (cid:862)(cid:373)i(cid:374)i(cid:373)al (cid:449)i(cid:374)(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:272)oalitio(cid:374). (cid:863) A minimal winning coalition (mwc) is one in which there are no parties that are not required to control a legislative majority. A se(cid:272)o(cid:374)d i(cid:373)pli(cid:272)atio(cid:374) is that you (cid:449)ill (cid:272)hoose the s(cid:373)allest or (cid:862)least (cid:373)i(cid:374)i(cid:373)al (cid:449)i(cid:374)(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:272)oalitio(cid:374). (cid:863) The least mwc is the mwc with the lowest number of surplus seats. To answer this question, you need to know something about the policy position of the parties along the salient issue dimensions in west germany in 1987. In a policy-seeking world, a formateur can get other parties to join the government only by giving them policy concessions. In other words, the formateur cannot implement policy at his own ideal point.
