Coalition

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A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economical spaces. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Formation

According to A Guide for Political Parties published by the National Democratic Institute and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, there are five steps to coalition building. [4] The first step in coalition building involves developing a party strategy that will prepare for successful negotiation. The more effort parties place on this step, the more likely they are to identify strategic partners, negotiate a good deal and avoid some of the common mistakes associated with coalition building.

The second step is negotiating a coalition. Based on the strategy that each party has prepared, the parties come together to negotiate and reach an agreement on the coalition terms. Depending on the context and objectives of the coalition, these negotiations may be completely secret or partially public. While some issues may be agreed on with relative ease, others may be more contentious and require different approaches to reach compromise.

As negotiation concludes, the agreement between political parties needs to be formally sealed. This third step includes finalizing a written agreement, securing formal approval of the deal from the relevant structures of the coalition’s member parties and announcing the coalition details to the general public. The next step involves working in coalition. As the coalition partners begin working to implement their agreement, they will need to maintain good relations by continuing efforts to increase or sustain trust and communication among the member parties. Each party will also need to find a balance between respecting its obligations to the coalition and maintaining its individual identity.

The final step is to identify lessons learned. Regardless of whether it plans to move forward alone or in another coalition, it is important for each party to review and document lessons learned from each coalition-building experience. This will make it possible to get a clearer picture of the positive and negative impacts of coalition-building on the party and to identify lessons learned that can inform any future coalition-building efforts.

Coalitions manifest in a variety of forms, types, and terms of duration. [5] Campaign coalitions are high intensity and involve long-term cooperation. Federations are characterized by a relatively lower degree of involvement, intensity, and participation, also involving long-term cooperation but with members' primary commitment remaining with their own entities. Instrumental coalitions have low-intensity involvement without a foundation to mediate conflict. Finally, event-based coalitions are those that have a high level of involvement and the potential for future collaboration.

In contrast to alliances, coalitions may be termed partnerships of unequals, since comparative political, economic, and military might, as well as the extent to which a nation is prepared to commit to the coalition, dictate influence. Coalitions can often occur as unplanned responses to situations of danger, uncertainty, or extraordinary events, directed at interim objectives. [6]

Function

Coalitions can be classified as internal or external. Internal coalitions consist of people who are already in an organization, such as a workplace. [7] For example, a trade union is a type of coalition formed to represent employees' wages, benefits, and working conditions. Without this unity between employees, workers may be subjugated to harsh working environments and low pay due to no practical regulations. [8] Often, organizations prefer to meet with members of their respective internal coalitions before implementing changes in the workplace to ensure support. [7]

In contrast, external coalitions consist of people that are members of different organizations who collaborate their efforts to achieve an overall objective. [7] For example, in order to prevent gun violence and advocate gun control, several groups, unions, and nonprofit organizations banded together to form the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. External coalitions base their confidence in gaining credibility on inviting unlikely partners who wish to attain the same end goal, even if the reasons to achieve the goal differ. [7]

Use

Government and politics

Coalition government is an alternative model to a majority government, the latter being prevalent in winner-take-all first-past-the-post electoral systems that favor clear distinctions between winners and losers. [9] [10] Not only can coalitions of legislative groups form governments in parliamentary systems, they can also form in divisions of power.[ clarification needed ] Most typical analyses of coalitions in politics deal with the formation of multiparty cabinets in parliamentary regimes. [11] In Germany, every administration has been a multiparty coalition since the conclusion of the Second World War –an example of coalition government creation in a parliamentary system. When different winning coalitions can be formed in a parliament, the party composition of the government may depend on the bargaining power of each party and the presence or lack of a dominant party. [11]

Coalitions are similar to parliamentary groups. Fluid coalitions, which change with each vote, exist in the European Parliament [12] and Swiss parliament to pass legislation.

International relations

Diagram of some international coalitions established by Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa: BASIC, BRICS, G5 and IBSA Diagrama BASIC, BRICS, G5, IBAS.svg
Diagram of some international coalitions established by Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil, Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China, Flag of India.svg  India, Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico, Flag of Russia.svg  Russia and Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa: BASIC, BRICS, G5 and IBSA

The temporary collaboration of two or more separate parties with a set goal and common purpose can be viewed as a coalition in international relations. [13] Coalition competitions are represented in international political dynamics. [14] A coalition can be an ad hoc grouping of nations united for specific purposes. [15] Although persons and groups form coalitions for many and varied reasons, the most common purpose is to combat a common threat or to take advantage of a certain opportunity, resulting in the often temporary nature of coalitions. The common threat or existence of opportunity is what gives rise to the coalition and allows it to exist as all parties involved see the benefit in working together. Such collaborative processes allow the actors of the coalition to approach a common goal or accomplish the same task. [16] The behavior and dynamics of coalitions in international relations are created by commonalities and differences within the groups joining together. Rationality, group dynamics, and gender are all contributing factors of coalitional behaviors in an international security framework. [17]

Economics

Economic agents can form coalitions. [18] When a coalition is formed around economic goals, the reasoning is financial. In economics, when two opposing sectors, such as a buyer and seller or two sellers, come together, it can be thought of as a coalition in the denotative sense, as the two groups come together temporarily to achieve a goal. [19] One example would be the 1997 deal between Microsoft and Apple. The deal consisted of Microsoft rescuing the then-struggling Apple with a cash infusion of $150 million. [20] Unions can be viewed as coalitions of workers, usually of the same job sector. When the agents considered are countries, the formation of an international treaty (e.g. trade agreements or international environmental agreements) can also be seen as a coalition. In economics, a coalition's formation and its stability is mostly studied using game theory.

Civil society

In civil society, a coalition denotes a group effort or a population of people coming together who believe strongly in their cause. The term also describes alliances between civil society organizations, such as labor unions, community organizations, and religious institutions. In France for example, workers from different sectors and unions band together to aid each other in communicating a point. This coalition of unions is often very effective as it can cause massive inconvenience to the country. [21] The formation of coalitions such as the Community-Labor Coalition have proven to be an important strategy for social change in many contexts. [22] In social groups, a coalition often forms from private citizens uniting behind a common goal or purpose, sometimes within a coalitional identity. Many of these private citizen groups form grassroots organizations, such as the Christian Coalition, which is the largest grassroots political group in the US. [23] Activist groups in civil society are also viewed as coalitions for their respective cause. These activists are joined together by their belief in what they want to achieve or accomplish.

Military

Military coalitions can be built and united under a singular power by multiple states and governments. They are fluid in terms of membership –not only does a country not have to have been a traditional ally to join a coalition, but nations can join, vary their contributions and caveats, withdraw, and be replaced by new members as the situation changes or national agendas change. [6] The expansion of assets accessible to member nations to perform military operations is a crucial attribute of coalitions. In many ways, coalition warfare serves to make the crafting of a peace more difficult than winning the war itself. [24] An example of such a coalition happened after World War I during the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference, when the Allied powers attempted to reach a peace agreement.

Examples of military coalitions include the Coalition of the Gulf War, when George H. W. Bush ended Saddam Hussein's aggression in the Middle East by enlisting and leading a military coalition in the 1991 Gulf War's Operation Desert Storm [25] as well as his son George W. Bush's efforts in the Coalition of the Willing, a phrase employed during the 2003 campaign for the war in Iraq led by the US and its allies. A contemporary example is the United Nations coalition that intervened in the 2011 Libyan Civil War against Muammar Gaddafi. For coalitions to be effective in principle or in action, participating nations have tended to require a single overpowering threat –perhaps to freedom or a way of life or a crucial national interest –or the presence of a single despotic figure or regime whose continued existence is considered not only abhorrent to the generality of nations but also destabilizing to the region or world order. [6]

Mathematics

In mathematics, the term coalition is linked to an equation which uses the coalition model for exponential population growth. This analytical equation was first published by mathematician Pierre François Verhulst in 1838 to allow for the approximation of the world's population at a given time by applying differential and integral techniques. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election. A party not having majority is common under proportional representation, but not in nations with majoritarian electoral systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government</span> System or group of people governing an organized community, often a state

A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.

Jurisdiction is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sovereignty</span> Supreme authority within a territory

Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate authority over other people and to change existing laws. In political theory, sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme legitimate authority over some polity. In international law, sovereignty is the exercise of power by a state. De jure sovereignty refers to the legal right to do so; de facto sovereignty refers to the factual ability to do so. This can become an issue of special concern upon the failure of the usual expectation that de jure and de facto sovereignty exist at the place and time of concern, and reside within the same organization.

World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all of Earth and humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors.

In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Multilateralism is based on the principles of inclusivity, equality, and cooperation, and aims to foster a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world. Middle powers play a crucial role in the international system by promoting multilateralism and internationalism.

An electoral alliance is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency</span> Revolt or uprising by irregular forces

An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well-equipped, regular military force state adversary. Due to this asymmetry, insurgents avoid large-scale direct battles, opting instead to blend in with the civilian population where they gradually expand territorial control and military forces. Insurgency frequently hinges on control of and collaboration with local populations.

A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government.

A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in political activities aimed at achieving clearly-defined political goals, which typically benefit the interests of their members.

Collective security is a multi-lateral security arrangement between states in which each state in the institution accepts that an attack on one state is the concern of all and merits a collective response to threats by all. Collective security was a key principle underpinning the League of Nations and the United Nations. Collective security is more ambitious than systems of alliance security or collective defense in that it seeks to encompass the totality of states within a region or indeed globally.

A non-state actor (NSA) is an individual or organization that has significant political influence but is not allied to any particular country or state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military organization</span> Structuring of armed forces of a state

Military organization (AE) or military organisation (BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hierarchical forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International organization</span> Organization established by treaty between governments

An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own legal personality, such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and NATO. International organizations are composed of primarily member states, but may also include other entities, such as other international organizations, firms, and nongovernmental organizations. Additionally, entities may hold observer status.

Tripartism is an economic system of neo-corporatism based on a mixed economy and tripartite contracts between employers' organizations, trade unions, and the government of a country. Each is to act as a social partner to create economic policy through cooperation, consultation, negotiation, and compromise. In Tripartism, the government has a large role in the economy and engages in negotiations between labour unions and business interest groups to establish economic policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syrian opposition</span> Political groups opposed to Bashar al-Assad

The Syrian opposition is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antimilitarism</span> Ideology that opposes militarism

Antimilitarism is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes should be settled without recourse to violence, Paul B. Miller defines anti-militarism as "ideology and activities...aimed at reducing the civil power of the military and ultimately, preventing international war". Cynthia Cockburn defines an anti-militarist movement as one opposed to "military rule, high military expenditure or the imposition of foreign bases in their country". Martin Ceadel points out that anti-militarism is sometimes equated with pacificism—general opposition to war or violence, except in cases where force is deemed necessary to advance the cause of peace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political warfare</span> Use of political means to compel an opponent with hostile intent

Political warfare is the use of hostile political means to compel an opponent to do one's will. The term political describes the calculated interaction between a government and a target audience, including another state's government, military, and/or general population. Governments use a variety of techniques to coerce certain actions, thereby gaining relative advantage over an opponent. The techniques include propaganda and psychological operations ("PsyOps"), which service national and military objectives respectively. Propaganda has many aspects and a hostile and coercive political purpose. Psychological operations are for strategic and tactical military objectives and may be intended for hostile military and civilian populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genocide prevention</span> Any act or actions that works toward averting future genocides

Prevention of genocide is any action that works toward averting future genocides. Genocides take a lot of planning, resources, and involved parties to carry out, they do not just happen instantaneously. Scholars in the field of genocide studies have identified a set of widely agreed upon risk factors that make a country or social group more at risk of carrying out a genocide, which include a wide range of political and cultural factors that create a context in which genocide is more likely, such as political upheaval or regime change, as well as psychological phenomena that can be manipulated and taken advantage of in large groups of people, like conformity and cognitive dissonance. Genocide prevention depends heavily on the knowledge and surveillance of these risk factors, as well as the identification of early warning signs of genocide beginning to occur.

References

  1. ↑ Coalition International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. Vol. 1, 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p. 586–587.
  2. ↑ ""Coalition." Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2017-04-27.
  3. ↑ Mehrabi, Weiss (2023-01-01). COALITION OF THE ENDING: WHY STATES WITHDRAW FROM INTERNATIONAL MILITARY COALITIONS. Theses and Dissertations--Political Science (Thesis). doi:10.13023/etd.2023.134.
  4. ↑ "Coalitions: A Guide for Political Parties". www.ndi.org. 27 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Tarrow, Sidney (2005). The New Transnational Activism . New York: Cambridge University Press. pp.  168. ISBN   9780521851305.
  6. 1 2 3 Graham, Andrew (2012). Lindley-French, Julian; Boyer, Yves (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of War. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199562930.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Gallicano, Tiffany; McComas, Katherine (2013). Encyclopedia of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 126–129.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ "Why unions are good for workers—especially in a crisis like COVID-19: 12 policies that would boost worker rights, safety, and wages". Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  9. ↑ Darity, William (2008). International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. USA: Macmillan Reference. ISBN   978-0028659657.
  10. ↑ "coalition Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  11. 1 2 Colomer, Josep (2011). Badie, Bertrand; Berg-Schlosser, Dirk; Morlino, Leonardo (eds.). International Encyclopedia of Political Science. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. p. 287. ISBN   9781412959636.
  12. ↑ Marié, Awenig (2019). "European Parliament: Is the grand coalition really a thing of the past?" (PDF).
  13. ↑ Fogarty, Edward (February 7, 2013). "Coalition POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS". www.britannica.com/topic/coalition. Archived from the original on 2017-04-28.
  14. ↑ Lopez, Anthony C.; McDermott, Rose; Petersen, Michael Bang (Fall 2011). "States in Mind: Evolution, Coalitional Psychology, and International Politics". International Security. 36 (2): 48–83. doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00056. S2CID   57562816.
  15. ↑ Morin, Jean-Frédéric; Orsini, Amandine (2015). Essential Concepts Of Global Environmental Governance. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN   978-0-415-82246-6 . Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Meyer, David; Whittier, Nancy (May 1994). "Social Movement Spillover" (PDF). Society for the Study of Social Problems. 41 (2): 277–298. doi:10.2307/3096934. JSTOR   3096934. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  17. ↑ Kazemi, S.; Enayati Hatkehlui, B.; Kazemi, A. (2014). "The Relationship between Organizational Culture Factors and Employees' Group Dynamics: Case Study of General Office of Education in Mazandaran Province". Journal of Industrial Strategic Management. 11 (35): 35–48. Archived from the original on 2017-04-27.
  18. ↑ Carlo, Carraro (2003). The Endogenous Formation of economic coalitions. Northhampton Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. ISBN   1-84376265-X . Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  19. ↑ "What is a coalition? definition and meaning". business dictionary. Archived from the original on 2017-04-29.
  20. ↑ ABELL, JOHN (August 6, 2009). "August 6, 1997: Apple Rescued — by Microsoft". Wired. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
  21. ↑ "CNN Wire. June 2, 2016". CNN Newsource Sales, Inc.[ permanent dead link ]
  22. ↑ Pitcoff, Winton (September 1998). "Community Labor Coalitions". www.nhi.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  23. ↑ "About Us". www.cc.org/about_us. Archived from the original on 2008-03-04.
  24. ↑ Hardy, Travis (2013). Piehler, Kurt (ed.). Encyclopedia of Military Science. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference. ISBN   978-1-78402-464-2.
  25. ↑ Atkin, Maurice; Gartner, Lloyd; Geldman, Arden; Kenen, Isaiah; Rader Marcus, Jacob; Temkin, Sefton (2007). Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica. Detroit, Michigan, USA.: Macmillan Reference. ISBN   978-0-02-865928-2.
  26. ↑ Smith, David; Moore, Lawrence. "World Population Growth - The Coalition Model". Mathematical Association of America. Archived from the original on 2017-04-28.

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