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The Government Pros And Disadvantages Of A Minority Government

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In a system of governance, if a hung parliament occurs, that is, when a parliament has no single party and thus no legitimate way to form a government, the government can actually gain advantages. Instead of a single party majority, minority governments allow multiple parties to govern. A minority government does not hinder a governing party because it promotes accountability to the legislature, which allows a more flexible decision-making process, that ultimately provides a Prime Minister different powers to maintain control which allows an efficient government.
Under a minority government, no party has ultimate control of making policies, it instead rules on consensus with the other parties, conversely, in a majority government, a single-party dominates the legislative process. Though complex agreements between opposition parties, the governing party can maintain confidence. For example, countries including Canada use contract parliamentarism, where opposition parties agree to support the government in return for policy on other concessions (Akash et al., 2010, p. 216). While this promotes collective responsibility, parties are still able to decide their own position on most matters. Therefore, parties collaborate to protect minority agreements that “often survive a full parliamentary term” (Akash et al., p. 216). This can result in motions being passed that cover a broad variety of different topics that ultimately can address issues that all parties see lacking in
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