Minority Governments 

Syllabus : GS 2/Polity and Governance

In News

• Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  highlighted minority governments in India.

What is a Minority Government?

• A minority government is a government formed by a political party that does not have an overall majority .
• As a result, the political party that forms the minority government requires the support of another political party (or parties) to pass laws.

Characteristics 

• When there is a minority government, decision-making power is shared between different political parties, rather than being concentrated in the governing party.
•  The government often needs to adjust and adapt its priorities to stay in power and reflect the interests of other parties.
• Laws from a minority government tend to include elements put forward by different political parties.

Issues Linked to Minority Government

• A minority government tends to be much less stable than a majority government
• Minority governments in most cases are not allowed to exercise their power properly.
• They are under constant conflict with the opposition parties

Indian Scenario 

• Since 1989 ,There have been eleven governments at the Centre, all of which have either been coalition governments or minority governments supported by other parties, which did not join the government.
• In this new phase, any government could be formed only with the participation or support of many regional parties.
  • This applied to the National Front in 1989, the United Front in 1996 and 1997, the NDA in 1997, the BJP-led coalition in 1998, the NDA in 1999, the UPA in 2004 and 2009.  
• However, this trend changed in 2014.

Source: IE