Coalition Governments in Western Europe is the most comprehensive empirical analysis to date of coalition politics, by leading scholars in the field. Covering the entire post-war period from 1945 to 1999, it is the first systematic study of the institutions of governance and conflict resolution in coalition governments.

1. Coalition Governance in Western Europe: An Introduction ; 2. Germany: Stable Parties, Chancellor Democracy and the Art of Informal Settlement ; 3. Austria: Tight Coalitions and Stable Government ; 4. Ireland: From Single-Party to Coalition Rule ; 5. Norway: A Fragile Coalitional Order ; 6. Sweden: When Minority Cabinets Are the Rule and Majority Coalitions the Exception ; 7. Denmark: The Life and Death of Government Coalitions ; 8. Finland: The Consolidation of Parliamentary Governance ; 9. Belgium: On Government Agreements, Evangelists, Followers and Heretics ; 10. The Netherlands: Still the Politics of Accommodation? ; 11. Luxembourg: Stable Coalitions in a Pivotal Party System ; 12. Italy: From "Constrained" Coalitions to Alternating Governments? ; 13. France: Forming and Maintaining Government Coalitions in the Fifth Republic ; 14. Portugal: The Rationale of Democratic Regime-Building ; 15. Conclusion: Coalition Governance in Western Europe

`an impressive and meticulously researched work...a superb reference work that scholars of developed democracies will cite for years...all of the individual country chapters are expertly done, with rich attention to detail in developing comparable data' American Political Science Review `a unique and timely contribution to the field of comparative institutional politics...The ... fine balance between methodological and empirical needs will appeal to theorists and country specialists alike...invaluable for specialist and ... sufficiently accessible for use on undergraduate and postgraduate courses' Political Studies `This is an extraordinarily valuable book that deserves a place in any political science library and... on the shelves of anyone with a serious professional interest in the making and breaking of governments...a carefully designed and executed reference volume...three sets of tables, rigorously and carefully compiled for each country ... put together information that would take an independent researcher months if not years to assemble. Their value greatly exceeds any to be found in earlier edited collections...a resource of immense value' Party Politics `This book will remain for many years THE information source on coalitions in Western Europe' Jean Blondel, European University Institute

THE definitive study of one of the major varieties of government in Europe Ecstatically reviewed on first publication Available in paperback for the first time An essential resource for all those working in European politics Comprehensive new data, accessibly organized