Research on government formation in parliamentary democracies is replete with theoretical arguments about why some coalitions form while others do not. Unfortunately, this theoretical richness has ...not led to the development of an empirical tradition that allows scholars to evaluate the relative importance of competing theories. We resolve this problem by applying an empirical framework that is appropriate for modeling coalition choice to evaluate several leading explanations of government formation. Our approach allows us to make conclusions about the relative importance of traditional variables relating to size and ideology and to assess the impact of recent new-institutionalist theories on our ability to explain and predict government formation.
•Political coalitions both for and against transitions affect the transition pace.•Political spending by incumbent industries overwhelms grassroots coalitions.•Countervailing industrial power can tip ...the balance of power between coalitions.
In the case of technology transitions to low-carbon sources of energy, there is growing evidence that even in countries with a strong political consensus in favor of a transition, the pace has been slow in comparison with the need to reduce greenhouse gases. One factor that affects the slowness of the transition is political resistance from the incumbent industrial regime. Using data on the mobilization of resistance from the fossil-fuel industry in the United States, the study builds on the growing literature on the political dimensions of sustainability transitions by drawing attention to the role of incumbent regime coalitions, grassroots coalitions in support of green transition policies, and countervailing industrial power. Case studies of political coalitions for ballot propositions in the U.S. are used to show how countervailing industrial power, especially from the technology and financial sector, can tip the balance of electoral spending in favor of grassroots organizations.
About two decades ago, Paul Sabatier (1991) urged scholars to develop better theories and empirics for understanding policy processes. Sabatier's proposition, in collaboration with Hank ...Jenkins-Smith, became the advocacy coalition framework (ACF). The original version of the ACF sought to make important contributions to the policy process literature by responding to several perceived needs: a need to take longer-term time perspectives to understand policy change; a need for a more complex view of subsystems to include both researchers and intergovernmental relations; a need for more attention to the role of science and policy analysis in public policy; and a need for a more realistic model of the individual rooted more deeply in psychology rather than microeconomics. This article introduces a special edition of this journal that offers a collection of eight ACF applications that continue to test and develop the theories within the framework. Adapted from the source document.
Despite the prominence of ad hoc coalitions (AHCs) in global governance, there is little scholarly understanding about how to recognize or categorize them. The article provides a rigorous foundation ...for identifying AHCs and studying their effects, by drawing attention to three characteristics: their short notice creation, task specificity and initial temporality.
Abstract
Ad hoc coalitions (AHCs) are an indispensable but scantly conceptualized part of global governance. In recent years, several typologies and classifications of global governance arrangements have been provided, mostly differentiating them based on their organizational design features of degree of formality and membership composition. These do not capture AHCs and the role they play in global governance. In this article, we not only provide a conceptualization of AHCs, but also propose ways in which AHCs fit within the broader global governance architecture. We argue that what sets AHCs apart is not so much their (in)formality or membership, but rather their short-notice creation, their task-specific purpose and their temporarily circumscribed existence. We therefore define AHCs as autonomous arrangements with a task-specific mandate established at short notice for a limited time frame. We then develop a research agenda on the nature and future of AHCs, including their short- and long-term relationship with other multilateral arrangements in the global governance architecture. This is important, as we do yet not know how AHCs complement, compete and impact on international organizations and international crisis response.
Making a low carbon economic future for the UK has been declared a key priority by both the previous Labour government and also the current coalition government. Yet there is a large gap between the ...symbolic representations of a low carbon future and their material manifestations in low carbon technologies and infrastructure in particular places. This paper addresses this gap through focusing on the organisation of urban low carbon transition activity. There is often significant capacity to act in reconfiguring urban energy systems that remains latent due to a missing organisational context for its co-ordination according to a mutually defined rationale or vision. This paper develops a conceptual framework to demonstrate and understand different modes of urban energy intermediation. Examples are used of intermediary organisation in London and Manchester to understand the strengths and partiality of each mode of intermediation and the necessity to integrate these different aspects of urban intermediary governance.
An Equivalence Theorem between geometric structures and utility functions allows new methods for understanding preferences. Our classification of valuations into "Demand Types" incorporates existing ...definitions (substitutes, complements, "strong substitutes," etc.) and permits new ones. Our Unimodularity Theorem generalizes previous results about when competitive equilibrium exists for any set of agents whose valuations are all of a "demand type." Contrary to popular belief, equilibrium is guaranteed for more classes of purely-complements than of purely-substitutes, preferences. Our Intersection Count Theorem checks equilibrium existence for combinations of agents with specific valuations by counting the intersection points of geometric objects. Applications include matching and coalition-formation, and the "Product-Mix Auction" introduced by the Bank of England in response to the financial crisis.
An organizational coalition consists of individuals who, despite their persistent differences, work together to pursue a mutually beneficial goal. While central to the political view of the firm, the ...research on organizational coalitions has evoked diverse characterizations of its members, their relationship with the rest of the organization, and how coalitions balance conflicts and compromise. The result is a fragmented literature that has limited the theoretical clarity necessary to appreciate one of the most important forms of collective political influence in organizations. Drawing on six decades of research, we offer a systematic review of organizational coalitions. We anchor our review on the actors who are party to a coalition, the structures that characterize the boundaries of a coalition, and the processes that lead to a coalition’s influence. This synthesis reveals significant overlaps with regard to the definition of actors, their structural positions, and the perpetual nature of conflict and negotiations. Yet we also note significant divergence in the interactions between actors, how the structure of a coalition maps onto that of an organization, and the processes that affect a coalition’s bargaining position and outcomes. These divergences reveal six distinct streams of research. Using our actor-structure-process model, we organize these research streams into a framework that identifies the diverse conceptualizations as contextual and reconcilable manifestations of a common underlying construct, thus yielding a dynamic model of organizational coalitions. Building on this framework, we propose an agenda for future research.
This study investigated bidirectional associations between observed parent–youth coalitions—wherein one parent and a child align themselves against the other parent—and family hostilities as they ...evolved in real‐time during triadic family conflict discussions. Participants were 102 families with an adolescent child (50% girls, Mage = 15.3 years, SD = 0.8). Using time‐lagged, multilevel models, we tested immediate, temporal influences from hostility (within marital and mother–youth and father–youth relationships) to parent–youth coalitions and vice versa. Guided by sensitization theories, we also investigated whether a history of marital aggression moderated these links. Results indicated multiple concurrent links supporting the interconnectedness of cross generational coalitions and angry, critical exchanges within multiple family relationships. Moreover, time‐linked effects demonstrated that hostility within both the marital and parent–adolescent domains preceded subsequent coalitions, and also that coalitions preceded hostility, particularly in the parent–adolescent domain. Findings further demonstrated that marital aggression moderates temporal associations between fathers’ marital hostility and father–youth coalitions. These patterns highlight the dynamic links between hostilities and coalitions, how such patterns spill over across family subsystems, and how these two insidious influences in parents’ interactions with their adolescent youth may mutually reinforce each other. This study informs intervention efforts by identifying patterns and sequences of family hostilities surrounding parent–youth coalitions during adolescence.
Resumen
En este estudio se investigaron las asociaciones bidireccionales entre las alianzas observadas entre padres y adolescentes —en las cuales un padre y un hijo se alinean contra el otro padre— y las hostilidades familiares a medida que se desarrollaban en tiempo real durante discusiones triádicas por conflictos familiares. Los participantes fueron 102 familias con un hijo adolescente (el 50% niñas, edad promedio = 15.3 años, desviación típica = 0.8). Utilizando modelos multinivel con tiempo de retardo, evaluamos las influencias inmediatas y temporales de la hostilidad (dentro de las relaciones conyugales y de las relaciones entre madre y adolescente y padre y adolescente) en las alianzas entre padres y adolescentes y viceversa. Guiados por las teorías de sensibilización, también investigamos si los antecedentes de agresión conyugal moderaron estas asociaciones. Los resultados indicaron varias asociaciones simultáneas que respaldaron la interconexión de las alianzas intergeneracionales y los intercambios agresivos y críticos dentro de las relaciones de varias familias. Además, los efectos asociados con el tiempo demostraron que la hostilidad dentro del área conyugal y de padres y adolescentes precedió a alianzas posteriores, y también que las alianzas precedieron a la hostilidad, particularmente en el área de padres y adolescentes. Los resultados también demostraron que la agresión conyugal modera las asociaciones temporales entre la hostilidad conyugal de los padres y las alianzas entre los padres y los jóvenes. Estos patrones destacan las asociaciones dinámicas entre las hostilidades y las alianzas, las maneras en la que dichos patrones se desbordan entre los subsistemas familiares, y cómo estas dos influencias insidiosas en las interacciones de los padres con sus hijos adolescentes pueden reforzarse mutuamente. Este estudio sirve como base para los esfuerzos de intervención, ya que identifica los patrones y las secuencias de las hostilidades familiares que rodean a las alianzas entre los padres y los adolescentes durante la adolescencia.
Pre-electoral coalitions (PECs) may increase parties’ chances of winning an election, but they may also distort electoral results and policies away from citizens’ preferences. To shed light on how ...PECs shape post-electoral power distribution, we study the causes and consequences of PECs in Finland where elections use an open-list proportional representation system, and parties may form joint lists. We present descriptive evidence showing that PECs are more common between parties of equal size and similar ideology, and when elections are more disproportional or involve more parties. Using difference-in-differences and density discontinuity designs, we illustrate that voters punish coalescing parties and target personal votes strategically within the coalitions, and that PECs are formed with the particular purpose of influencing the distribution of power. PECs increase small parties’ chances of acquiring leadership positions, lead to more dispersed seat distributions, and sometimes prevent absolute majorities. They can thus enable a broader representation of citizens’ policy preferences.
This article explores the question of why coalition partners negotiate and publish coalition agreements before entering into a cabinet and why the content of these agreements varies so widely. Some ...scholars suggest that coalition partners draft agreements for electoral purposes, while others suggest that coalition agreements can be used to commit to policy negotiations. Although both sides of the debate have uncovered supportive evidence, the literature remains in disagreement. This article provides new organisation of previous work on agreements and develops two alternative theoretical arguments about the crafting of coalition agreements. It is argued here that coalition partners consider both electoral and policy motivations during the drafting of agreements and that the dominance of one of these motivations is conditional on the degree of issue saliency and division between partners. Empirical support is found for the theoretical argument that coalition partners include low saliency issues in the coalition agreement on policy dimensions on which they are less divided, and that coalition partners include high saliency issues in the coalition agreement on policy dimensions on which they are more divided.
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