Coalition Building: How Long Is Too Long?

How long is too long to form a coalition? Dr. Ofer Kenig looks at how long it takes to form a government in different parliamentary democracies.

Coalition Building: How Long is Too Long?

Following Prime Minister Netanyahu's request, President Rivlin has granted him a two-week extension to conclude the coalition negotiations and complete the process of forming the new government. Thirty-four days have passed since Election Day and apparently a new government will be installed only in about two weeks. Is a 50-day period an exceptional time to form a new government? An investigation by Dr. Ofer Kenig found that the answer, in fact, is 'no.'

The figure below shows the time (in days) required to form new post-election governments in 18 parliamentary democracies using the last election in each country. The values represent the number of days between Election Day and the day the new government took office.