A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a minority parliament. In bicameral parliaments, the term relates to the situation in the chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial.
In general, a minority government tends to be less stable than a majority government, because the opposition can always bring down the government with a simple vote of no confidence.
Read more about Minority Government: Coalitions and Alliances
Famous quotes containing the words minority and/or government:
“What characterizes a member of a minority group is that he is forced to see himself as both exceptional and insignificant, marvelous and awful, good and evil.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Hence, the less government we have, the better,—the fewer laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual; the appearance of the principal to supersede the proxy; the appearance of the wise man, of whom the existing government, is, it must be owned, but a shabby imitation.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)