When no single party controls a majority, parties bargain to form a coalition. A governing coalition is an alliance that pools parliamentary seats to create a working majority and share cabinet posts.

Coalition agreements typically specify policy priorities, the distribution of ministries, and procedures for resolving disputes. Junior partners gain influence they could not exercise alone; senior partners gain the votes needed to govern. Negotiations can be protracted and the resulting governments sometimes fragile.

Parliamentary systems with proportional representation produce coalitions more often than majoritarian systems. Voters may need to anticipate post-election bargaining when casting ballots. Coalition politics rewards compromise and punishes parties that become unreliable partners. Some coalitions endure for full terms; others collapse and trigger early elections.

The composition of a coalition often matters as much as the identity of the largest party.