Marc Debus
Portfolio allocation and policy compromises: How and why the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government

The Political Quarterly, 2011: 82, Heft 2, S. 293-304
ISSN: 0032-3179

The question of “who gets what?” is one of the most interesting issues in coalition politics. Research on portfolio allocation has thus far produced some clear-cut empirical findings: coalition parties receive ministerial posts in close proportion to the number of parliamentary seats they win. This article poses two simple questions: Why did the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agree to form aausklappen