Is a ‘rainbow coalition’ a good way to govern?

Abstract

As the recently re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was putting the finishing touches to a new cabinet for his second term in office, we asked two experts on democracy to set out their views on the desirability and likely consequences of his finding a place in this new coalition for all or most of the parties that had gained seats in the parliament. In the event, the new cabinet was announced shortly before this issue went to press. As had been widely expected, the president did indeed opt for a wide coalition, appointing to the ministry individuals from most – but not all-parties represented in parliament. The following discussion of the merits and likely consequences of this approach is therefore very timely and useful for understanding how the incoming administration is likely to function. The first of our experts, Larry Diamond, is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, and directs Stanford's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. (Ed.)