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Multi-party system
 
 
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A multi-party system is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition.

Unlike a single-party system (or a non-partisan democracy
Non-partisan democracy

Non-partisan democracy is a system of Representative democracy or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political party....
), it encourages the general constituency
Constituency

A constituency is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business's customer base and shareholders, or a charity's donors or those it serves....
 to form multiple distinct, officially recognized groups, generally called political parties
Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
. Each party competes for votes from the enfranchised
Suffrage

Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that context, it is also called political franchise or simply the franchise....
 constituents (those allowed to vote). A multi-party system is essential for representative democracies
Representative democracy

File:Electoral democracies.pngRepresentative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of Election individuals representing the people, as opposed to either autocracy or direct democracy....
, because it prevents the leadership of a single party from setting policy
Policy

A policy is typically described as a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. However, the term may also be used to denote what is actually done, even though it is unplanned....
 without challenge.

If the government includes an elected Congress
Congress

A congress is a formal meeting of representatives from different countries , or independent organizations . The term Congress was chosen for the United States Congress to emphasize the status of each state represented there as a self-governing unit....
 or Parliament
Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom....
 the parties may share power according to Proportional Representation
Proportional representation

Proportional representation , sometimes referred to as full representation, is a category of voting systems aimed at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive ....
 or the First-past-the-post system.






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A multi-party system is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition.

Unlike a single-party system (or a non-partisan democracy
Non-partisan democracy

Non-partisan democracy is a system of Representative democracy or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political party....
), it encourages the general constituency
Constituency

A constituency is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business's customer base and shareholders, or a charity's donors or those it serves....
 to form multiple distinct, officially recognized groups, generally called political parties
Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
. Each party competes for votes from the enfranchised
Suffrage

Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that context, it is also called political franchise or simply the franchise....
 constituents (those allowed to vote). A multi-party system is essential for representative democracies
Representative democracy

File:Electoral democracies.pngRepresentative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of Election individuals representing the people, as opposed to either autocracy or direct democracy....
, because it prevents the leadership of a single party from setting policy
Policy

A policy is typically described as a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. However, the term may also be used to denote what is actually done, even though it is unplanned....
 without challenge.

If the government includes an elected Congress
Congress

A congress is a formal meeting of representatives from different countries , or independent organizations . The term Congress was chosen for the United States Congress to emphasize the status of each state represented there as a self-governing unit....
 or Parliament
Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom....
 the parties may share power according to Proportional Representation
Proportional representation

Proportional representation , sometimes referred to as full representation, is a category of voting systems aimed at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive ....
 or the First-past-the-post system. In Proportional Representation, each party wins a number of seats proportional to the number of votes it receives. In first-past-the-post, the electorate is divided into a number of districts, each of which selects one person to fill one seat by a plurality of the vote. First-past-the-post is not conducive to a proliferation of parties, and naturally gravitates toward a two-party system
Two-party system

A two-party system is a form of party system where two major party political parties dominate vote in nearly all elections, at every level. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by one of the two major parties....
, in which only two parties have a real chance of electing their candidates to office. This gravitation is known as Duverger's law
Duverger's law

In political science, Duverger's law is a law which asserts that a Plurality voting system election system tends to favor a two-party system....
. Proportional Representation, on the other hand, does not have this tendency, and allows multiple major parties to arise.

This difference is not without implications. A two-party system requires voters to align themselves in large blocs, sometimes so large that they cannot agree on any overarching principles. Along this line of thought, some theories argue that this allows centrist
Centrism

In politics, centrism usually refers to the political idea of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle between different political extremes....
s to gain control. On the other hand, if there are multiple major parties, each with less than a majority of the vote, the parties are forced to work together to form working governments. This also promotes a form of centrism.

USA an example of where there may be a multi-party system but that only two parties have ever formed government. Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, and Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 are examples of nations that have used a multi-party system effectively in their democracies (though in each case there are two parties larger than all others, even though most of the time no party has a parliamentary majority by itself). In these nations, multiple political parties have often formed coalition
Coalition

A coalition is an Wiktionary:alliance among individuals, during which they cooperate in Joint venture, each in his own self-interest. Joining forces together for a common cause....
s for the purpose of developing power blocs for governing.

See also

  • Coalition
    Coalition

    A coalition is an Wiktionary:alliance among individuals, during which they cooperate in Joint venture, each in his own self-interest. Joining forces together for a common cause....