The Formation of Parliamentary Coalitions in Contemporary European Plural Societies

The final thesis is devoted to the problem of the formation and functioning of parliamentary coalitions in federal and decentralised societies. Modern Belgium, Switzerland and the United Kingdom face certain challenges: the growing influence of right-populist parties in Belgium And Switzerland and a political crisis associated with the country's withdrawal from the European Union in the UK. In our study, we want to understand the mechanisms of formation and functioning of parliamentary coalitions in these countries. Our analysis was based on an analysis of roll call votes and building an index of consistency between two separate groups of legislators, as well as an index of consistency of two separate legislators, According to the results of an empirical study, the following basic mechanisms for the formation and functioning of parliamentary coalitions were identified: (1) Rules of the game in the form of a “magic formula” leads to less consistency of the party coalition in Switzerland. The absence of such rules in Belgium and the UK leads to greater consistency of coalitions; (2) Individual parties and deputies vote rationally. Knowing that there is a “magic formula” and a near one hundred percent chance of being re-elected for the next term, Swiss parties and deputies can afford to deviate from the vote. The flexibility and instability of the party systems in Belgium and the UK does not allow parties and deputies to deviate from the coalition’s views, as they are forced to demonstrate their effectiveness at the present time; (3) The logic of creating party coalitions overlaps the logic of plural societies. The regional and ethnic origin of individual deputies do not have a deviating effect on their vote, i.e. their belonging to unconventional segments of plural society is not fully manifested. The study can be applied to the analysis of other countries where the effects may appear even more clearly due to the presence of less mature party systems.