And if the leader of the second biggest party would rather work with the third biggest party?
Then the biggest party could well remain out of government, because someone decided that a different coalition would form the government.
The virtue of a two party popular vote is that once the votes are counted there is a clear winner determined by the voters, and nobody can change the winner behind the scenes.
As long as the coalition represents the majority, I don’t see why the largest party needs to be part of the government. The largest party doesn’t represent the will of the people by itself, otherwise they would have a majority.
Coalition building happens in a two party system, too. The difference is that it happens before the election, not after. That way the voters, not the coalition builders, get the final say.
And if the leader of the second biggest party would rather work with the third biggest party?
Then the biggest party could well remain out of government, because someone decided that a different coalition would form the government.
The virtue of a two party popular vote is that once the votes are counted there is a clear winner determined by the voters, and nobody can change the winner behind the scenes.
As long as the coalition represents the majority, I don’t see why the largest party needs to be part of the government. The largest party doesn’t represent the will of the people by itself, otherwise they would have a majority.
Yes, that ends up happening sometimes, but the winner will at least be allowed to try.
Coalition building happens in a two party system, too. The difference is that it happens before the election, not after. That way the voters, not the coalition builders, get the final say.
In a two party system the power balance within the coalition is decided behind closed doors and the voters have no say in it
That’s true, but they have complete control of who wins the election.
Two choices is not complete control
The winner of the election reflects the will of the majority of voters. That’s the most control you can get in a democracy.