This book introduces a new hypothesis concerning the formation and survival of coalition governments in Western European parliamentary democracies, the policy horizon hypothesis. The book finds support for the hypothesis in a wide array of evidence, including findings based on a new survey of experts in West European political systems.

PAUL V. WARWICK is Professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is the author of several books and more than two dozen scholarly articles, primarily in the area of parliamentary governance.