2025/12/19 by Lucas Couto · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Politics and Society in Latin America #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Policy Transfer and Learning
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s1755773925100222
openalex publication_date 2025/12/19 · openalex created_date 2025/12/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/12
Abstract Recent studies have drawn attention to the importance of pre-electoral coalitions in multiparty presidential democracies. Despite this, much scholarship has neglected the period during which pre-electoral coalitions turn into governing coalitions. Through a systematic cross-case analysis of Latin American cases, this paper examines why some coalition governments largely resemble the pre-electoral pacts that preceded them while others do not. The results lend credence to the legislative status granted by pre-election coalition members to the government, the low polarization among pre-electoral coalition members and the high ideological polarization in the legislature to explain the resemblance between pre- and post-electoral coalitions. Intriguingly, case-based analysis suggests that the temporal distance to government inauguration plays, at best, a marginal role in this process. These findings contribute to the still-growing literature on pre-electoral coalitions in presidential democracies by shedding light on the complex causation behind the pathway from pre-electoral bargaining to fully developed coalition governments.