135-663: Emiliano García-Page Sánchez (born 11 June 1968) is a Spanish politician from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party who is the President of Castile-La Mancha since 2015. García-Page was the Mayor of Toledo from 2007 to 2015; after the 2015 city council election , he was succeeded in the position by Milagros Tolón. This article about a mayor in Spain is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about
270-679: A Bible . The oath of office used is: " I swear/promise to faithfully carry out the duties of the position of president of the Government with loyalty to the King; to obey and enforce the Constitution as the fundamental law of the State, as well as to keep in secret the deliberations of the Council of Ministers ". The prime minister proposes the deputy prime ministers and the other ministers, which are then appointed by
405-574: A Castilian–Manchego politician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Politics of Spain The politics of Spain takes place under the framework established by the Constitution of 1978 . Spain is established as a social and democratic sovereign country wherein the national sovereignty is vested in the people , from which the powers of the state emanate. The form of government in Spain
540-409: A consensus government . During the history of federal Canadian politics, there have been fifteen minority governments, in fourteen separate minority parliaments. Federal minority governments typically last less than two years. Exceptions to this include the 26th , 27th , 39th and 40th Canadian parliaments, which all lasted for longer than two years. The 14th Canadian Parliament functioned as
675-510: A hung parliament : the 1988 , 2022 and 2024 elections. In both instances, minority governments were formed following the elections, with no formal coalition or confidence-and-supply agreement being put in place to guarantee stability. In fact, the French Constitution provides a large number of institutional tools to ensure political stability at the detriment of parliamentary sovereignty, constitutional tools that become critical when
810-429: A minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the legislature . It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, enabling a government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support or consent of enough other members of
945-538: A federal minority government in Australia for the first time since 1940 . The Labor Party and Coalition both won 72 seats, 4 short of a majority. Labor won the two-party preferred vote by 0.24%. Six crossbenchers, consisting of four independents, one Greens MP, and one WA Nationals MP, held the balance of power. Ultimately, four crossbenchers gave confidence and supply to Labor, allowing them to form an extremely narrow minority government. This government stood until
1080-405: A few days later, since with as many votes in his favour as against him, he does not enjoy the confidence of Parliament. The defeat must have been all the more difficult to swallow as two Socialist MEPs had left before the vote in order not to miss their train to Liège . On the other hand, the last three attempts were successful. Firstly in 1958 a minority government received, for the first time,
1215-535: A general election. The cabinet continues to serve as demissionary . A demissionary cabinet is not a minority government but a form of caretaker government , enjoying only limited powers until the new Parliament assembles. If the Monarch does not dissolve Parliament, the remaining cabinet continues as a minority cabinet, in full possession of its powers. It can finish any legislation already before underpreparation, if Parliament passes it by majority vote; this necessitates
1350-549: A given vote, and a minority government might even bring on a confidence vote and threaten to resign should the legislature vote against it. An alternative arrangement is a looser alliance of parties, exemplified by Sweden. There the long-governing Social Democrats have ruled with more or less formal support from other parties – in the mid-20th century from Agrarians, after 1968 from Communists, and more recently from Greens and ex-Communists – and have thus been able to retain executive power and (in practice) legislative initiative. This
1485-478: A governing party without a plurality in the House needs at least one other party to vote with it at all times (assuming the largest party will always vote no confidence, but that is almost certain to occur when they are denied the opportunity to govern). This means that in most situations, the party with the most seats has the best chance and the least complicated route to winning a confidence vote, regardless of its place on
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#17328838979361620-507: A government has lost its majority mid-term. Minority governments have also existed at the state level, sometimes for substantial periods. The viability of minority government varies between states, as some require an absolute majority vote by parliament for a government to be invested, while others require only a simple majority or plurality. Between 1949 and December 2017, there were 31 periods of minority government in Germany, including four at
1755-716: A government majority. The Catholic Party and the Belgian Workers' Party each won approximately 40 percent of the seats so they could not govern alone. However, within the Catholic Party, there remains serious reluctance to collaborate with the Socialists. It must be said that strong tensions between the two camps, particularly over the Flemishisation of the Ghent University and the management of external affairs, had led to
1890-500: A hung parliament in which the centrist presidential coalition was the largest bloc but 38 short of an overall majority. The Borne cabinet survived to 31ss motions of no confidence and Prime Minister Borne triggered constitutional article 49.3 23 times, mostly to pass the 2023 Government and Social Security Budgets but also to pass its pension system reform in March 2023. Nonetheless, the government lost several parliamentary votes, an oddity under
2025-646: A large majority, the social-Christian and liberal political families negotiated with the community parties. A partial agreement is reached in Steenokkerzeel. For the Walloon Rally as long as there is no agreement on everything, there is no agreement on anything. Nevertheless, it decides to grant its benevolent abstentions to the Christian Liberal coalition so that a government can be formed quickly. With 100 votes in favour, 63 against and, above all, 47 abstentions,
2160-510: A majority of the seats. This was the situation in Canada in the 2004 , 2006 , 2008 , 2019 , and 2021 federal elections, with no party obtaining a majority due in part to the dominance of the Bloc Québécois in the province of Quebec . In Westminster systems, in minority situations, the incumbent government usually has the first opportunity to attempt to win the confidence of the House. This
2295-572: A minority government either throughout its term or just a part of its term, usually the latter. A list of minority cabinets: Since the joint establishment of the Fifth Republic and of the two-round system for parliamentary elections in 1958, France has known only a few minority governments: indeed, the majoritarian electoral system usually produces seizable parliamentary majorities on which governments can rely, but there are some exceptions. Since 1958, only 3 out of 16 legislative elections resulted in
2430-495: A minority government for half of its duration, owing to floor-crossings and by-elections. The 15th Canadian Parliament was the only federal minority parliament that saw two different minority governments form. The most recent minority parliament elected at the federal level is the 44th Canadian Parliament , whose composition was determined in September 2021. Minority governments also occur in all provincial legislatures, as well as
2565-511: A single-party simple majority government was the 21st Dáil elected at the 1977 general election . Fifteen of the 32 governments in Irish history were minority governments, most of which were formed by Fianna Fáil . Coalitions in the Netherlands are formed with the support from parliamentary parties, elected by proportional representation. Although very rare, minority governments can be formed during
2700-409: A specific name. A specific denomination may not refer to the same branch of government in all communities; for example, "Junta" may refer to the executive office in some communities, to the legislature in others, or to the collective name of all branches of government in others. The two autonomous cities have more limited competences. The executive is exercised by a president, which is also the mayor of
2835-487: A vote of confidence. There is, however, a small constitutional trick, since the majority required to obtain confidence is not calculated on the basis of all the members of parliament, but on the basis of the votes cast. As the specialist on minority governments in Belgium, Lucien Rigaux, points out, this means that the majority is calculated on the basis of the members present and does not require more than 76 votes (the majority of
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#17328838979362970-561: Is King of Spain , although he can use all other titles of the Crown. The Crown, as a symbol of the nation's unity, has a two-fold function. First, it represents the unity of the State in the organic separation of powers ; hence he appoints the prime ministers and summons and dissolves the Parliament, among other responsibilities. Secondly, it represents the Spanish State as a whole in relation to
3105-480: Is a parliamentary monarchy , that is, a social representative democratic constitutional monarchy in which the monarch is the head of state , while the prime minister —whose official title is "President of the Government"—is the head of government . Executive power is exercised by the Government , which is made up of the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers and other ministers, which collectively form
3240-479: Is also common in Canada, where nine elections from 1921 to 2005 effectively produced minority federal governments . The parties can rarely cooperate enough to establish a formal coalition but operate under a loose agreement instead. Occasionally, a confidence and supply agreement may be formed. This is a more formal pact that still falls short of creating a coalition government. In the Canadian province of Ontario ,
3375-589: Is based on the number of seats held in the Cortes Generales and the number of votes received. Since the mid-1980s two parties dominate the national political landscape in Spain: the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( Spanish : Partido Socialista Obrero Español ) and the People's Party ( Spanish : Partido Popular ). The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) is a social democratic centre-left political party . It
3510-617: Is headed by a president, nominated by the King, proposed by the General Council of the Judiciary . The Supreme Court is the governing body of the Judiciary, made up of the president of the Supreme court, twenty members appointed by the King for a five-year term, among whom there are twelve judges and magistrates of all judicial categories, four members nominated by the Congress of Deputies, and four by
3645-703: Is incumbent upon the King: to sanction and promulgate laws; to summon and dissolve the Cortes Generales (the Parliament) and to call elections; to call a referendum under the circumstances provided in the constitution; to propose a candidate for prime minister, and to appoint or remove him from office, as well as other ministers; to issue the decrees agreed upon by the Council of Ministers ; to confer civil and military positions, and to award honors and distinctions; to be informed of
3780-515: Is made up of judges and magistrates who administer justice in the King's name. The Judiciary is composed of different courts depending on the jurisdictional order and what is to be judged. The highest ranking court of the Spanish judiciary is the Supreme Court ( Spanish : Tribunal Supremo ), with jurisdiction in all Spain, superior in all matters except in constitutional guarantees. The Supreme Court
3915-412: Is mostly provided by a council. The constitution recognises a degree of autonomy for the municipalities and the provinces of Spain (groupings of municipalities) but in practice central and regional governments continue to supervise the legality of local governments' acts, and their decisions can still be suspended. For various reasons, local government is heterogeneous, is distributed evenly across
4050-486: Is so even if the incumbents have fewer seats – the incumbent prime minister still holds their commission for the duration of the writ period and immediately following an election. If they cannot form a government that commands the confidence of the House then it is expected that they will resign that commission voluntarily – it is not considered acceptable for the Sovereign (or his representative) to revoke said commission unless
4185-567: Is the Senate. It is nominally the chamber of territorial representation. Four senators are elected for each province, with the exception of the insular provinces, in which the number of senator varies: three senators are elected for each of the three major islands – Gran Canaria , Mallorca and Tenerife – and one senator for Ibiza - Formentera , Menorca , Fuerteventura , La Gomera , El Hierro , Lanzarote and La Palma . The autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla each elect two senators. In addition,
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4320-465: Is the basic organic institutional law, approved by the legislature of the community itself as well as by the Cortes Generales , the Spanish Parliament. The Statutes of Autonomy establish the name of the community according to its historical identity; the delimitation of its territory; the name, organization and seat of the autonomous institutions of government; and the powers that they assume and
4455-482: Is vested in a "president" and a Council of Ministers, elected by and responsible to a unicameral legislative assembly. The Economist Intelligence Unit downgraded Spain from full democracy to " flawed democracy " in 2022, because of concerns about its judicial independence, given the " political divisions over the appointment of new magistrates to the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) " . Spain returned to
4590-419: The Cortes Generales meets at separate precincts, and carry out their duties separately, except for specific important functions, in which case they meet in a joint session. Such functions include the elaboration of laws proposed by the executive ("the Government"), by one of the chambers, by an autonomous community, or through popular initiative; and the approval or amendment of the nation's budget proposed by
4725-514: The State of Autonomies to avoid implying either a unitary or federal model. Foreign scholars usually define Spain as a federal system with certain peculiarities. The State, that is, the central government, has progressively and asymmetrically devolved or transferred power and competences to the autonomous communities. Each autonomous community is governed by a set of institutions established in its own Statute of Autonomy . The Statute of Autonomy
4860-569: The 2013 election . After the 2016 federal election , the Coalition formed a majority government of just one seat. They lost their majority after the 2018 leadership spill which deposed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull , as National Party MP Kevin Hogan moved to the crossbench. The government lost another seat after the 2018 Wentworth by-election , which was won by independent Kerryn Phelps . They lost another seat after MP Julia Banks resigned from
4995-520: The 2019 Danish general election is a single-party minority government of the Social Democrats (who received about 25% of the vote in the previous election) supported by three other parties; the previous cabinet, Lars Løkke Rasmussen III , was a three-party minority coalition led by Venstre and supported by the Danish People's Party . An earlier cabinet of Rasmussen's, Lars Løkke Rasmussen II ,
5130-587: The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV), from the Basque Country , and Convergence and Union (CiU) and the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), from Catalonia , have also played key roles in Spanish politics. Members of the Congress of Deputies are selected through proportional representation , and the government is formed by the party or coalition that has the confidence of the Congress, usually
5265-581: The Canarian Coalition (CC), which passed due to the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) abstaining. A motion of no confidence in the Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy was held between 31 May and 1 June 2018, registered by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) after the People's Party (PP) was found to have profited from the illegal kickbacks-for-contracts scheme of the Gürtel case . The motion
5400-599: The Greens tolerated two consecutive SPD minority governments (this arrangement ended in 1985 when the SPD and Greens entered into coalition.) Other examples of a minority government on a state level include the first government of Klaus Wowereit in Berlin , comprising a minority coalition of the SPD and Greens supported by the PDS, which was invested after a corruption scandal led to the collapse of
5535-624: The Liberal Party formed a minority government from 1985 to 1987 on the basis of a formal accord with the New Democratic Party (NDP): the NDP agreed to support the Liberals for two years on all confidence motions and budgetary legislation, in exchange for the passage of certain legislative measures proposed by the NDP. This was not a formal coalition, because the NDP remained an opposition party and
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5670-428: The Liberal Party , reducing the government to 73 seats. However, they retained confidence from all three MPs, enabling them to remain in government. Belgium is not unfamiliar with minority governments. Moreover, this type of government is not explicitly provided for in the Constitution, even though the Constitution does not prevent its existence. More often than not, minority governments emerge following elections when
5805-561: The National Police Corps operates in the rest of the autonomous communities. On the other hand, two communities (the Basque Country and Navarre) are " communities of chartered regime ", that is, they have full fiscal autonomy, whereas the rest are " communities of common regime ", with limited fiscal powers (the majority of their taxes are administered centrally and redistributed among them all for fiscal equalization). The names of
5940-537: The Senate ( Spanish : Senado ). The General Courts exercise the legislative power of the State, approving the budget and controlling the actions of the government. As in most parliamentary systems, more legislative power is vested in the lower chamber, the Congress of the Deputies. The Speaker of Congress , known as "president of the Congress of Deputies" presides a joint-session of the Cortes Generales . Each chamber of
6075-518: The executive power has to govern in minority: These are the six minority governments in the history of France 's Fifth Republic as of 2024: The previous Borne government was a three-party minority coalition government as result of the June 2022 parliamentary elections that saw President Macron 's coalition lose its parliamentary majority in the National Assembly, going from a 115-seat majority to
6210-560: The formation period of a Dutch cabinet , if an election result makes a majority coalition impossible. More often, a minority government is formed when one of the cabinet's coalition partners withdraws its support, or when all ministers of a given parliamentary party resign. In these cases, the Prime Minister offers the full cabinet's resignation to the Dutch Monarch . At this point, the Monarch may choose to dissolve Parliament and hold
6345-420: The province forms the constituency or electoral circumscription and must be assigned a minimum of 2 deputies; the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla , are each assigned one deputy. The Congress of Deputies can initiate legislation, and they also have the power to ratify or reject the decree laws adopted by the executive. They also elect, via a vote of investiture, the prime minister (the "president of
6480-500: The 150 seats in the Chamber). Moreover, confidence is obtained if there are more votes in favour than against. For example, out of 100 votes cast, a minority government can be invested with 40 affirmative votes, 20 negative votes and 40 abstentions. The abstention of parties that, for various reasons, do not wish to enter the government thus makes it possible to form an emergency government with full powers and democratic legitimacy. Never in
6615-560: The Cabinet, or Council of Ministers . Legislative power is vested in the Cortes Generales ( General Courts ), a bicameral parliament constituted by the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature , administering justice on behalf of the King by judges and magistrates . The Supreme Court of Spain is the highest court in
6750-476: The Conservatives and Liberals has formed in federal Canadian politics in 1917. Coalition governments have occurred more frequently in provincial legislatures, with several provincial coalition governments having been formed in the 20th and 21st century. Denmark has a rich tradition of minority governments. Despite the country's electoral system of proportional representation , which almost always results in
6885-882: The Council of Ministers, several ex officio councillors – former prime ministers of Spain, directors or presidents of the Royal Spanish Academy , the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation , the Royal Academy of History , the Social and Economic Council , the Attorney General of the State, the Chief of Staff, the Governor of the Bank of Spain , the Director of the Juridical Service of
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#17328838979367020-696: The Fifth Republic. Minority government is unusual in Germany, though it was more common historically during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic . In the Federal Republic (since 1949), the constructive vote of no confidence theoretically grants minority governments a high degree of longevity, but they are rare in practice. No minority government has ever been invested on the federal level, though brief periods of minority government have existed when
7155-435: The General Council of the Judiciary. They are to be renowned magistrates and prosecutors, university professors, public officials or lawyers, all of them jurists with recognized competence or standing and more than 15 years of professional experience. The second article of the constitution declares the Spanish nation is the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards, which is made up of nationalities and regions to which
7290-411: The General Courts will select a successor in the way that best suits the interest of Spain. The heir presumptive or heir apparent holds the title of Prince or Princess of Asturias . The current heir presumptive is princess Leonor de Borbón . Legislative power is vested in the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales (literally "General Courts", but rarely translated as such). "Cortes" has been
7425-424: The Government - 21 November 2023 The constitution also established the Council of State , a supreme advisory council to the Spanish government. Though the body has existed intermittently since medieval times, its current composition and the nature of its work are defined in the constitution and subsequent laws that have been published, the most recent in 2004. It is currently composed of a president, nominated by
7560-457: The Government" ( Spanish : vicepresidentes del gobierno ) and all other ministers. The collegiate body composed by the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and all other ministers is called the Council of Ministers . The Government is in charge of both domestic and foreign policy, as well as defense and economic policies. As of 2 June 2018, the prime minister of Spain is Pedro Sánchez . The constitution establishes that after elections,
7695-446: The Government"), before being formally sworn to office by the King. The Congress of Deputies may adopt a motion of censure whereby it can vote out the prime minister by absolute majority. On the other hand, the prime minister may request at any time a vote of confidence from the Congress of Deputies. If the prime minister fails to obtain it, then the Cortes Generales are dissolved, and new elections are called. The upper chamber
7830-405: The Government"; if he or she fails to obtain absolute majority, the Congress waits 48 hours to vote again, in which case, a simple majority suffices. If he or she fails again, then the King presents other candidates until one gains confidence. However, if after two months no candidate has obtained it, then the King dissolves the Cortes Generales and calls for new elections with the endorsement of
7965-436: The King, after consulting with all political groups represented in the Congress of Deputies, proposes a candidate to the "presidency of the Government" or prime ministership through the Speaker of Congress . The candidate then presents the political program of his or her government requesting the Congress's confidence. If the Congress grants him confidence by absolute majority, the King then nominates him formally as "president of
8100-474: The King. In the parliamentary gallery, the then Prime Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak , declared: "if you think you can quickly give the country a government other than the one before you, stronger, based on a stable majority, do not hesitate, overthrow us. But if you don't have that assurance, if you foresee, after a negative vote, a long period of hesitation, conciliations, abortive attempts, then think carefully about what you are going to do". He nevertheless succumbs
8235-486: The King. The number and the scope of powers of each of the Ministries is decided by the prime minister. Ministries are usually created to cover one or several similar sectors of government. Once formed, the Government meets as the "Council of Ministers", usually every Friday at the Palace of Moncloa in Madrid , the official residence of the prime minister who presides over the meetings, even though, on exceptions they can be held in any other Spanish city. Also, on exceptions,
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#17328838979368370-486: The Liberal Party and the majority of the Christian democrats. In 2005 it integrated the Democratic and Social Center Party. It governed Spain under the prime ministership of José María Aznar from 1996 to 2004, and again from December 2011, and after much uncertainty caused by the inconclusive results of the 2015 general election and the 2016 election when the People's Party formed a minority government with confidence and supply support from liberal Ciudadanos (Cs) and
8505-440: The Senate is the institution that authorizes the Government to adopt measures to enforce an autonomous community's compliance with its constitutional duties when it has failed to do so. For the first time ever, on Friday, 27 October 2017, the senate voted, by majority, to invoke article 155 of the constitution, which gave the central government the power to remove the government of the autonomous region of Cataluña for acting against
8640-410: The Senate, elected in both cases by three-fifths of their respective members. They are to be elected from among lawyers and jurists of acknowledged competence and with over 15 years of professional experience. The Constitutional Court ( Spanish : Tribunal Constitucional ) has jurisdiction over all Spain, competent to hear appeals against the alleged unconstitutionality of laws and regulations having
8775-482: The Spanish current constitution. It governed Spain from 1982 to 1996 under the prime ministership of Felipe González. It governed again from 2004 to 2011 under the prime ministership of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero . The People's Party (PP) is a conservative centre-right party that took its current name in 1989, replacing the previous People's Alliance , a more conservative party founded in 1976 by seven former Francoist ministers. In its refoundation it incorporated
8910-401: The Speaker of Congress. In practice, the candidate has been the leader of the party that obtained the largest number of seats in the Congress. Since the constitution of 1978 came into effect, there were no coalition governments until 2019–2020 Spanish government formation . Prior to this, minority governments has had to rely on the support of minority parties to gain confidence and to approve
9045-420: The State's assent to entering into international commitments through treaties; and he declares war or makes peace, following the authorization of the Cortes Generales . In practical terms, his duties are mostly ceremonial, and constitutional provisions are worded in such a way as to make clear the strict neutral and apolitical nature of his role. In fact, the Fathers of the Constitution made careful use of
9180-416: The State's budgets. After the candidate obtains the confidence of the Congress of Deputies, they are appointed by the King as prime minister in a ceremony of inauguration in which they are sworn at the Audience Hall of the Palace of Zarzuela – the residence of the King – and in presence of the Major Notary of the Kingdom. The candidate takes the oath of office over an open copy of the Constitution next to
9315-412: The State, and the presidents of the General Commission of Codification and Law – several permanent councilors, appointed by decree, and no more than ten elected councilors in addition to the council's Secretary General. The Council of State serves only as an advisory body, that can give non-binding opinions upon request and to propose an alternative solution to the problem presented. The Judiciary in Spain
9450-439: The Yukon Legislative Assembly. However, minority governments do not occur as frequently in these legislatures as they do at the federal level. Ontario has seen six minority legislatures in its political history, the most among the 10 provinces and the territory of Yukon. Alberta is the only province that has never had a minority government in its provincial legislature. While minority governments may occur in Canadian politics,
9585-439: The affairs of the State, presiding over the meetings of the Council of Ministers whenever opportune; to exercise supreme command of the Spanish Armed Forces , to exercise the right to grant pardons, in accordance to the law; and to exercise the High Patronage of the Royal Academies. All ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives are accredited by him, and foreign representatives in Spain are accredited to him. He also expresses
9720-424: The autonomous communities, whose rights he is constitutionally bound to respect. The King is proclaimed by the Cortes Generales – the Parliament – and must take an oath to carry out his duties faithfully, to obey the constitution and all laws and to ensure they are obeyed, and to respect the rights of the citizens, as well as the rights of the autonomous communities. According to the Constitution of Spain, it
9855-605: The cards. A sort of national union to which the N-VA does not, however, adhere, the Vlaams Belang and the PTB decided to give its confidence to the Wilmès II government in order to give it full powers and, above all, democratic legitimacy to deal with the health crisis. As with day-to-day business, the minority government provides a flexible institutional response in times of crisis that allows
9990-559: The city. In the same way, limited legislative power is vested in a local Assembly in which the deputies are also the city councilors. Local government refers to the government and administration of what the constitution calls "local entities", which are primarily municipalities, but also groups of municipalities including provinces , metropolitan areas, comarcas and mancomunidades and sub-municipal groups known as Minor local entities ( Spanish : Entidad de Ámbito Territorial Inferior al Municipio ). The administration of these entities
10125-409: The constitution explicitly refers to the Senate as the chamber of territorial representation, as seen from the numbers before, only one-fifth of the senators actually represent the autonomous communities. Since the constitution allowed for the creation of autonomous communities, but the process itself was embryonic in nature – they were formed after the promulgation of the constitution, and the outcome
10260-471: The constitution of 1978 by having called an illegal referendum on 1 October. At the national level, executive power in Spain is exercised only by "the Government". (The King is the head of state, but the constitution does not attribute to him any executive faculties). The Government is composed by a prime minister, known as the " president of the Government " ( Spanish : presidente del gobierno ), one or more deputy prime ministers, known as "vice-presidents of
10395-402: The constitution recognizes and guarantees the right to self-government. Since the constitution of 1978 came into effect, these nationalities and regions progressively acceded to self-government and were constituted as 17 autonomous communities . In addition, two autonomous cities were constituted on the coast of North Africa . This administrative and political division is known ambiguously as
10530-409: The country on national television in military uniform, denouncing the coup and urging the maintenance of the law and the continuance of the democratically elected government, thus defusing the uprising. The Spanish Constitution, promulgated in 1978, established explicitly that Juan Carlos I is the legitimate heir of the historical dynasty. This statement served two purposes. First, it established that
10665-440: The creation of regions throughout Spain and the devolution of powers to all, widely known as "coffee for everyone". Exercising the right to self-government granted by the constitution, the "nationalities and regions" have been constituted as 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities . The form of government of each autonomous community and autonomous city is also based on a parliamentary system, in which executive power
10800-533: The elected assembly is that it can be instituted without a majority of the members of Parliament having voted in favour of it, but that, on the other hand, a majority of the members of the assembly is required to dismiss it (76 minimum). Minority governments can occur in the federal Parliament of Canada , and the legislatures of most provinces and territories except the Northwest Territories and Nunavut , which have non-partisan legislatures and operate as
10935-467: The executive government and the legislature vary between communities. Some institutions are restored historical bodies of government of the previous kingdoms or regional entities within the Spanish crown – like the Generalitat of Catalonia – while others are entirely new creations. In some, both the executive and the legislature, though constituting two separate institutions, are collectively identified with
11070-466: The executive or authorizations of the legislature. The king is the commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces , but has only symbolic, rather than actual, authority over the Spanish military. Nonetheless, the king's function as the commander-in-chief and symbol of national unity have been exercised, most notably in the military coup of 23 February 1981 , where King Juan Carlos I addressed
11205-449: The expressions "it is incumbent upon of the King", deliberately omitting other expressions such as "powers", "faculties" or "competences", thus eliminating any notion of monarchical prerogatives within the parliamentary monarchy. In the same way, the King does not have supreme liberty in the exercise of the aforementioned functions; all of these are framed, limited or exercised "according to the constitution and laws", or following requests of
11340-416: The fall of the homogeneous Catholic government. After 38 days of caretaker government – which was relatively long for the time – the King appointed a Catholic cabinet. The latter was finally nipped in the bud by Parliament since the latter decided not to grant its confidence because the proposed Catholic coalition did not respect "Flemish national law", that it "was not qualified to resolve the difficulties of
11475-490: The federal and 27 at the state level. All four federal instances were the result of an incumbent government losing its majority: the fourth Adenauer cabinet after the withdrawal of the FDP ; the second Erhard cabinet , also after the withdrawal of the FDP; the first Brandt cabinet after parliamentary defections; and the third Schmidt cabinet after the dismissal of the FDP. Of these, only
11610-577: The federal level, state-level minority governments usually survived much longer, lasting an average of 333 days. The longest was the two SPD -led minority governments of Reinhold Höppner in Saxony-Anhalt , which served two complete terms (1,452 and 1,406 days, respectively) between 1994 and 2002. These governments, enabled by the abstention of the PDS during confidence votes, were dubbed the " Magdeburger model". However, most minority governments still resulted from
11745-572: The federated entities has a minority government been formed spontaneously. On the other hand, at the central and then federal state level, there have been five attempts to form a minority government. Three of these attempts were transformed. As Lucien Rigaux points out in an issue devoted to the history of minority governments in Belgium: "The first two attempts were failures. In 1925, the Liberals experienced an electoral debacle. They preferred to stay away from
11880-419: The force of law, as well as individual appeals for protection ( recursos de amparo ) against violation of the rights and liberties granted by the constitution. It consists of 12 members, appointed by the King, 4 of which are proposed by the Congress of Deputies by three-fifths of its members, 4 of which are proposed by the Senate by three-fifths of its members as well, 2 proposed by the executive and 2 proposed by
12015-615: The formation of a formal coalitions is rare, with past minority governments relying on cooperation and confidence and supply arrangements to govern instead. Historically, several coalition governments have formed in the 1840s and 1850s, in the Parliament of the Province of Canada . The formation of the Great Coalition in 1864 eventually led to Canadian Confederation in 1867. Since Canadian Confederation , only one wartime coalition between
12150-589: The government on confidence matters, while the Green Party abstained. In most Westminster system nations, each constituency elects one member of parliament by simple plurality voting. This system heavily biases the vote towards increasing the number of seats of the top two parties and reducing the seats of smaller parties, a principle known in political science as Duverger's law , and thus minority governments are relatively uncommon. Advocates of this system see this as one of its advantages. A party with less than 40% of
12285-455: The government that was in power loses its majority and has to become a caretaker government pending the formation of a new government. In Belgium, it is the King who appoints the government. However, as Belgium is a democratic state, constitutional custom requires that this appointment must be approved by the Chamber of Representatives , the democratically elected body. This consent is given by
12420-532: The government to support their nomination for Taoiseach and achieve majority support. Support for bills and other items requiring a Dáil majority vote is then negotiated on a bill-by-bill basis. If no agreement can be reached to nominate an individual to lead a government, the outgoing Taoiseach (continuing to act in a caretaker capacity) can seek dissolution of the Dáil and call a new general election. However, this circumstance has not occurred to date. The last Dáil with
12555-535: The government with a vote of no confidence . If, however, the minority government forms supporting partnerships with some parliamentary parties, it can be as stable as majority governments. To deal with situations in parliamentary systems where no clear majority to form a government exists, two or more parties may establish a formal coalition government, commanding a clear majority of the parliamentary members. A party might also enter into less formal alliances or agreements with other parties or individual members to allow
12690-456: The historical and constitutional name used since Medieval Times. The qualifier "General", added in the Constitution of 1978, implies the nationwide character of the Parliament, since the legislatures of some autonomous communities are also labeled "Cortes". The Cortes Generales are the supreme representatives of the Spanish people. This legislature is bicameral, made up of the Congress of Deputies ( Spanish : Congreso de los Diputados ) and
12825-488: The implementation of regionalisation, on the question of state interference in economic affairs and on the method of "community to community" negotiation involving so-called community parties rather than political families. The socialists, who had campaigned strongly on the left, decided in the Namur Congress to withdraw from the negotiations and denounced the formation of a "coalition of the rights". Not giving up on forming
12960-463: The impression that they are playing a fool's game where the lowest bidder will have the chance to claim a few positions in a government that will carry out the entire Christian program. The Christian Social Party then tries to capitalize on its 104 seats to gain confidence. Contrary to all expectations, the abstention of one Volksunie member and two Liberals was enough to gain the confidence of Parliament. The Eyskens II minority government thus received
13095-574: The label of full democracy in 2023 . According to the V-Dem Democracy indices , in 2023 Spain was the 11th most electorally democratic country in the world. The Spanish monarch , currently, Felipe VI , is the head of the Spanish State , symbol of its unity and permanence, who arbitrates and moderates the regular function of government institutions, and assumes the highest representation of Spain in international relations , especially with those who are part of its historical community. His title
13230-436: The legislative assembly of each autonomous community designates one senator, and another for each one million inhabitants. This designation must follow proportional representation. For the 2011 elections, this system allowed for 266 senators, 208 of which were elected and 58 of which were designated by the autonomous communities. Senators serve for four-year terms or until the dissolution of the Cortes Generales . Even though
13365-479: The legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In bicameral legislatures , the term relates to the situation in the chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government (generally, the lower house ). A minority government tends to be less stable than a majority government because, if they can unite, opposing parliamentary members have sufficient numbers to vote against legislation, or even bring down
13500-628: The loss of a majority – on 13 occasions due to the withdrawal of a coalition partner, on 12 occasions due to defeat in an election, and on four occasions due to parliamentary defections. Only seven minority governments were formed on a "tolerance" basis similar to the Magdeburger model. Furthermore, only two minority governments lasted more than a single term: the aforementioned Höppner governments in Saxony-Anhalt, and from 1982 to 1983 and 1983–85 in Hesse , when
13635-461: The meeting can be presided by the King of Spain, by request of the prime minister, in which case, the Council informs the King of the State's affairs. Currently, the government consists of these members: Minister of Finance (First Deputy Prime Minister since 29 December 2023) Minister of Labour and Social Economy (Second Deputy Prime Minister since 12 July 2021) (Third Deputy Prime Minister since 12 July 2021) Spokesperson of
13770-451: The minority Tindemans I government won the confidence of the House and the Senate five days later. The Walloon Rally also joined the coalition, which became a majority a few months later. Finally, the last successful attempt was made in 2020 to fight the COVID-19 crisis. While the negotiations have been stalled since the last elections on 26 May 2019, the coronavirus crisis has brought down
13905-403: The minority government to stay in office. A common situation is a governance with "jumping majorities", where the cabinet stays as long as it can negotiate support from a majority in the parliament, even though that majority may be differently formed from issue to issue or bill to bill. On occasion, the legislature may permit a minority cabinet to continue in office despite having been defeated on
14040-489: The nation and involves duplication of services. Spain is a multi-party constitutional parliamentary democracy. According to the constitution, political parties are the expression of political pluralism, contributing to the formation and expression of the will of the people, and are an essential instrument of political participation. Their internal structure and functioning must be democratic. The Law of Political Parties of 1978 provides them with public funding whose quantity
14175-487: The nation , with jurisdiction in all Spanish territories, superior to all in all affairs except constitutional matters, which are the jurisdiction of a separate court, the Constitutional Court . Spain's political system is a multi-party system , but since the 1990s two parties have been predominant in politics , the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the People's Party (PP). Regional parties , mainly
14310-436: The now-common practice of the party with the most seats forming the government has led to a widespread misconception among voters that a convention exists whereby the party with the most seats always gets to form the government. In fact, the most compelling reason for this practice is that the party with the most seats can survive confidence votes so long as smaller party (or parties) simply abstain from confidence votes, whereas
14445-476: The other parties or independents so as to avoid no-confidence motions. Because of no-confidence motions, minority governments are frequently short-lived or fall before their term is expired. The leader of a minority government will also often call an election in hopes of winning a stronger mandate from the electorate. In Canada, for instance, federal minority governments last an average of 18 months. The unprecedentedly close 2010 Australian federal election produced
14580-440: The parliamentary situation" and that it did not make it possible to fight the bourgeoisie". In 1946, the government of national unity, which followed World War II , had already served its purpose. The Liberals felt that their new electoral defeat invited them to undergo an opposition cure. Socialists and Catholics clashed during the election campaign over the royal question of the return of King Leopold III to Belgium, which made
14715-479: The party with the largest number of seats. Since the Spanish transition to democracy , when parties failed to obtain absolute majorities, the tendency was to form minority governments . However, this tendency was broken in 2020 with the formation of the Second government of Pedro Sánchez , formed by members of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and Unidas Podemos , as well as independents proposed by both parties. This
14850-568: The political climate particularly tense. The Socialists reject the invitation of the Catholic informer to form a government because the former want to associate the Communists, who have obtained a better result than the Liberal Party , with the government, while the Catholic Party categorically refuses to do so. After a month of political crisis, a cabinet composed solely of socialists is appointed by
14985-419: The political spectrum. At the Canadian federal level, in the four most recent of the five occasions a governing party lost the plurality without another winning a majority (1957, 1963, 1979, and 2006), the incumbent governments resigned rather than attempt to stay in power. Whatever party forms the government must either form a coalition with one or more other parties, or they must win some form of support from
15120-425: The popular vote can often win an outright majority of the seats. (For instance, in the 2005 UK General Election , the governing Labour party won by a majority of 66 seats in the House of Commons with only 35.2% of the popular vote.) If support for some parties is regionally concentrated, however, then Duverger's law applies separately to each region, and so no party can be sufficiently dominant in each region to receive
15255-421: The popularity of other parties has increased such that coalition governments are now typical and expected, with one of the two major parties being the senior partner, and with one or more junior partners ensuring that the coalition retains a majority in the Dáil. A minority government is formed when a party (or a coalition) secures agreement from one or more other parties or independent TDs who are not members of
15390-516: The position of the King emanates from the constitution, the source from which its existence is legitimized democratically. Secondly, it reaffirmed the dynastic legitimacy of the person of Juan Carlos I, not so much to end old historical dynastic struggles – namely those historically embraced by the Carlist movement – but as a consequence of the renunciation to all rights of succession that his father, Juan de Borbón y Battenberg , made in 1977. Juan Carlos I
15525-595: The previous CDU government; it served on an interim basis from June 2001 until the October state election . The first government of Hannelore Kraft in North Rhine-Westphalia , comprising a coalition of the SPD and Greens tolerated by The Left , was formed after the 2010 state election and served until the 2012 election . The second government of Bodo Ramelow in Thuringia , a coalition of The Left, SPD, and Greens,
15660-406: The prime minister was acting in serious breach of constitutional protocol. Nevertheless, usually, an incumbent government that loses its plurality in the House simply resigns, especially if the main opposition party is only a few seats short of having a majority or if it feels it has no chance of winning the support of enough members of smaller parties to win an initial confidence vote. Nevertheless,
15795-416: The prime minister. The Congress of Deputies is made up of a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 400 deputies (members of parliament) – currently 350 – elected by universal, free, equal, direct and secret suffrage , to four-year terms or until the dissolution of the Cortes Generales . The voting system used is that of proportional representation with closed party lists following D'Hondt method in which
15930-453: The process for their devolution or transfer from the central government. All autonomous communities have a parliamentary form of government, and separation of powers between executive and legislative branches. Their legislatures represent the people of the community, exercising legislative power within the limits set forth in the constitution and their statutes of autonomy. Even though the central government has progressively transferred roughly
16065-479: The same powers to all communities, devolution is still asymmetrical. More power was devolved to the so-called "historical nationalities" – the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia. (Other communities chose afterwards to identify themselves as nationalities as well). The Basque Country, Catalonia and Navarre have their own police forces ( Ertzaintza , Mossos d'Esquadra and the Chartered Police respectively) while
16200-685: The second Erhard and third Schmidt cabinets are considered "true" minority governments, as the fourth Adenauer cabinet was quickly dissolved and replaced by the fifth Adenauer cabinet , and the first Brandt cabinet retained a technical majority due to the Bundestag delegation from Berlin. Erhard and Schmidt's minority governments were short-lived, lasting less than a month, and both ended with the Chancellor leaving office. Between 1949 and December 2017, nine different states had at least one period of minority government, with some having as many as four. Compared to
16335-452: The state to continue to function and to be able to carry out its essential tasks. However, unlike a majority government, the action of a minority government is not locked to current affairs, day-to-day business or urgent decisions. It benefits from the fullness of its competences since it is constituted on the basis of a democratic decision which grants it de facto a certain democratic legitimacy. The main disadvantage of minority government by
16470-413: The support of Parliament. The Social Christian Party obtained a remarkable score that had nothing to envy to its results of the 19th century with 104 seats out of 212. However, the government's formation patinated notably on the school question which pitted Catholics and lay people against each other and which related to the financing of Catholic and public schools. Both the socialists and the liberals have
16605-484: The support of a relative majority of the members present, 106 in favour and 104 against. A few months later, the minority government became a majority government when the Liberal Party joined the government team after an agreement was reached on the school issue. Then, in 1974, the political context was that of the state reforms initiated in 1970. Community autonomy was achieved, but the implementation of regionalisation
16740-471: The support of parties outside the government. Theoretically, early general elections need not be held, but they are often necessary in practice, since the coalition agreement no longer has parliamentary support. A third option is available to the Monarch: the formation of a new cabinet of different Parliamentary parties (which may include the defecting coalition partner). Elections are then held as scheduled at
16875-810: The winning party coming nowhere near a majority, single-party minority governments are still a regular occurrence in Danish politics. Since 1982 even most of multi-party coalition governments in Denmark are minority ones; thus, the government of the day is still required to make deals with non-governing parties. More often small far-left or far-right parties provide confidence support of centre-left or centre-right coalition governments led by Social Democrats or Venstre. For many years, Danish politics has been divided into "Red" and "Blue" blocs, whose parliamentarians are typically expected to support Social Democratic and Venstre cabinets, respectively. The Frederiksen Cabinet elected in
17010-484: The younger". What this means in practice, is that the Crown is passed to the firstborn, who would have preference over his siblings and cousins; women can only accede to the throne provided they do not have any older or younger brothers; and finally "regular order of representation" means that grandchildren have preference over the deceased King's parents, uncles or siblings. Finally, if all possible rightful orders of primogeniture and representation have been exhausted, then
17145-414: Was a single-party Venstre minority government, a particularly notable feat, as Venstre only received about 20% of the vote in the election , finishing third. Estonia has had several minority governments. A minority cabinet can occur: Additional support is possible also because MPs leaving a party faction are not allowed to officially join another faction until the next elections. A government can be
17280-543: Was at a standstill, in particular because the Brussels dossier was repeatedly put on ice. Fifteen days after the elections of 10 March 1974, Léo Tindemans (CVP) was appointed formator. He is entering into negotiations with the Liberals and the Socialists to form a government that can benefit from a broad parliamentary base. While the liberals seem to be acquiescing, the negotiations with the socialists reveal divergences, mainly on
17415-421: Was constitutional king of Spain from 1978 to 2014. He abdicated in favor of his son Felipe VI. The constitution also establishes that the monarchy is hereditary following a "regular order of primogeniture and representation: earlier line shall precede older; within the same line, closer degree shall precede more distant; within the same degree, male shall precede female; and within the same sex, older shall precede
17550-490: Was founded in 1879 by Pablo Iglesias , at the beginning as a Marxist party for the workers' class, which later evolved towards social-democracy. Outlawed during Franco's dictatorship , it gained recognition during the Spanish transition to democracy period, when it officially renounced Marxism, under the leadership of Felipe González . It played a key role during the transition and the Constituent Assembly that wrote
17685-542: Was invested with the tolerance of the CDU to resolve the 2020 Thuringian government crisis . The Irish parliamentary system broadly works on a simple majority system, where the Taoiseach is elected by the Dáil when they achieve 50% + 1 of the votes in favour of their nomination. The Taoiseach then appoints the members of the government with the approval of the Dáil. Since the 1980s,
17820-649: Was not given seats in the cabinet . In this case, the Liberals did not even have a plurality of seats: the Progressive Conservatives were the largest single party with 52 seats, whereas the Liberals had 48 and the NDP had 25. New Zealand's 48th Parliament operated with both a coalition and a looser agreement: the government was a coalition between the Labour Party and the Progressives , while United Future and New Zealand First had an agreement to support
17955-583: Was successful and resulted in the PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez becoming the new Prime Minister of Spain until his 2019 state budget was rejected requiring him to call a snap election for 28 April of the same year. The parties or coalitions represented in the Cortes Generales after the July 2023 election are: Other parties represented in Congress from 2011 to 2023 were: Minority government A minority government , minority cabinet , minority administration, or
18090-599: Was the first nationwide coalition government to be formed in Spain since the Second Spanish Republic . Regional government functions under a system known as state of autonomies , a highly decentralized system of administration (systematically ranked 2nd in the world after Germany at the Regional Authority Index, since 1998). Initially framed as a kind of "asymmetrical federalism" for the regions styled as "historic nationalities", it rapidly evolved into
18225-458: Was unpredictable – the constituent assembly chose the province as the basis for territorial representation. The Senate has less power than the Congress of Deputies: it can veto legislation, but its veto can be overturned by an absolute majority of the Congress of Deputies. Its only exclusive power concerns the autonomous communities, thus in a way performing a function in line with its nature of "territorial representation". By an overall majority,
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