Coalition cohesion

Abstract

Anthony King (1976) identified different modes of executive-legislative relations. In the United Kingdom, the most visible is the opposition mode, in which the party in government is pitted against the party or parties, in opposition. This mode, as King notes, is marked by conflict. Each side is usually united as it faces the other side. However, cohesion may not be total. As a result, one other mode, the intra-party mode - encompassing opposition within a party - is significant because the party in government rests on the support of those who occupy its benches rather than those who sit opposite. If its ranks show signs of dissent then it may be in trouble. The opposition mode has been the dominant mode for more than a century, though in recent decades the intra-party mode has assumed greater significance as government backbenchers have proved more willing to vote against their party (Norton, 1975, 1978, 1980; Cowley and Norton, 1999; Cowley, 2002, 2005).