What are the disadvantages of a minority government?

Answer 1

Theorists who disapprove of coalition governments believe that such governments have a tendency to be fractious and prone to disharmony. This is because coalitions would necessarily include different parties with differing beliefs and who, therefore, may not always agree on the correct path for governmental policy. Sometimes the results of an election are such that the coalitions which are mathematically most probable are ideologically unfeasible, such as in Flanders or Northern Ireland. A second difficulty might be the ability of minor parties to play "kingmaker" and, particularly in close elections, gain far more for their support than their vote would otherwise indicate. Additionally, existing, powerful parties can use their leverage in coalition to hinder the growth and formation of new parties by forming alliances without them.

Answer 2

Some disadvantages of a minority government include instability due to the need to form coalitions to pass legislation, difficulty in implementing long-term policies, and potential for frequent elections if the government fails to maintain support.

Answer 3

In the Westminster system, a minority government is a government comprised of members of parliament the number of which from any one political party form a plurality, but not a majority. A minority government usually stays in power through informal or formal agreements with a third political party to support the minority government. Once such an agreement is concluded, the head of the plurality party petitions the head of state (the monarch or her viceroy) to be allowed to form a government.

The disadvantages to a minority government are twofold. One, a minority government can more easily fall on a vote of non-confidence by the opposition party together with the divergent third political party where the third party becomes disillusioned with the plurality party's cooperation in pursuit of the third party's agenda. And two, as a corollary, the minority government must temper the more extreme items on its agenda to appease the sensibilities of the supporting third party, in order to continue to enjoy its support.

Minority governments tend to be less stable because they tend to be more short-lived than majority governments. Majority governments are preferable, because where the plurality party also holds greater than fifty percent of the parliamentary seats, that government can always outvote the other parliamentary political parties to obtain enactment and assent to the legislation they sponsor, without any concession to a supporting third political party.