Introduction

Political analysts often assume that the most effective form of parliamentary government is a single-party majority one or, in its absence, a coalition government that relies on a majority of its co-partisans in parliament. Despite the fact that a third of parliamentary governments are minority governments, they are often treated as bit players in the world of governance: ignored or dismissed as outliers. When discussed, they are commonly derided as weak and ineffective. But the latter is not always true. In fact, it may not even be mostly true. The track record of minority governments in Spain in recent years, which this book scrutinizes, shows that minority governments can be as effective at governance as single-party majority governments.