Office Seeking and Policy Pursuit in Coalition Theory

Abstract

In most coalition theories, assumptions about policy payoffs for parties and politicians have been used to constrain the coalitions which office-seeking parties can form, thus improving the fit between the expected formation of minimal-winning coalitions and coalitions that actually form. This paper considers policy maximization as a motivating assumption in its own right, one which may influence parties to the exclusion of office seeking or in varying combinations with it. Conversely, office seeking may preclude policy concerns or combine with them in various ways. Because this model characterizes these relationships as variable rather than assuming that office seeking will predominate, it can accommodate problems earlier theories ignored, such as the frequent occurrence of minority governments. We argue the case that this formulation can relate coalition formation to other aspects of government behavior and can lead to an empirical investigation using better policy indicators than have been available before.