Portal:Politics/Selected article/2007, week 27
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
If the government includes an elected
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 centrists to gain control. On the other hand, if there are three major parties, each with substantially less than a majority of the vote, two of them may find it necessary to compete for the support of the third. Some argue that this gives the third party inordinate political leverage.
Canada, Germany, Australia, and Israel are examples of nations that have used a multi-party system effectively in their democracies. In these nations, multiple political parties have sometimes formed coalitions for the purpose of developing power blocks for governing.