Re:The new authoritarianism
by dragonwriter on Monday March 23, 2015 @05:23PM
(#9253430)
> Becoming the head of a coalition government is more akin to a negotiation than an election.
Well, except for the whole election to the parliament that is necessary to even be in the negotiation -- the same election that if you won enough seats outright would make you the leader without the need for a coalition -- and which sets the degree of power you have in the negotiation.
> In this case, the "negotiation" involved a lot of arm-twisting.
Arm twisting which was only possible because the Nazis were the largest party in the July election, and then again in the November election, and because there was less common ground between the non-Nazi parties around which to form a majority coalition than between the Nazis and the various conservative parties (who, to be sure, still hated the Nazis, but hated them less than the they hated the other non-Nazi parties.)
Well, except for the whole election to the parliament that is necessary to even be in the negotiation -- the same election that if you won enough seats outright would make you the leader without the need for a coalition -- and which sets the degree of power you have in the negotiation.
> In this case, the "negotiation" involved a lot of arm-twisting.
Arm twisting which was only possible because the Nazis were the largest party in the July election, and then again in the November election, and because there was less common ground between the non-Nazi parties around which to form a majority coalition than between the Nazis and the various conservative parties (who, to be sure, still hated the Nazis, but hated them less than the they hated the other non-Nazi parties.)