Editing Proportional representation (section)

===Coalitions===
The election of smaller parties gives rise to one of the principal objections to PR systems, that they almost always result in [[coalition government]]s.<ref name="ideaEsd" />{{rp|59}}<ref name="forder" />

Supporters of PR see coalitions as an advantage, forcing compromise between parties to form a coalition at the centre of the [[political spectrum]], and often when an election forces government change, some of the old coalition are in the new coalition so PR produces continuity and stability. Opponents counter that with many policies, compromise is not possible. Neither can many policies be easily positioned on the left-right spectrum (for example, the environment). So policies are [[Horse trading (political)|horse-traded]] during coalition formation, with the consequence that voters have no way of knowing which policies will be pursued by the government they elect; voters have less influence on governments. Also, coalitions do not necessarily form at the centre, and small parties can have excessive influence, supplying a coalition with a majority only on condition that a policy or policies favoured by few voters is/are adopted. Most importantly, some say the ability of voters to vote an unpopular party out of power is curtailed.<ref name="forder" />

All these disadvantages, the PR opponents contend, are avoided by two-party plurality voting systems. Coalitions are rare; the two dominant parties necessarily compete at the centre for votes, so that governments are more reliably moderate; the strong opposition necessary for proper scrutiny of government is assured; and governments remain sensitive to public sentiment because they can be, and are, regularly voted out of power.<ref name="forder" /> However, this is not necessarily so; a two-party system can result in a "drift to extremes", hollowing out the centre,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Paul |title='America is better than this': paralysis at the top leaves voters desperate for change |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/20/paralysis-in-us-politics-extremism |access-date=17 November 2014 |work=The Guardian |date=20 November 2011}}</ref> or, at least, in one party drifting to an extreme.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krugman |first1=Paul |title=Going To Extreme |url=https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/going-to-extreme/ |website=The Conscience of a Liberal, Paul Krugman Blog |publisher=[[The New York Times Co.]] |access-date=24 November 2014 |date=19 May 2012}}</ref> As well, a two-party election system may operate in an oligopolistic manner, with both parties ignoring a particular viewpoint (the two parties engaging in too much compromise), or one party may verge off, having been controlled by an extreme group, so creating polarization.<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://academic.oup.com/book/36918/chapter-abstract/322171607?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false | doi=10.1093/oso/9780190913854.003.0003 | chapter=The Paradox of Partisanship | title=Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop | date=2020 | last1=Drutman | first1=Lee | pages=35–57 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-091385-4 }}</ref> A two-party plurality election system means there are many safe seats, districts where only one party has a chance to be elected. This often leads to polarization and low voter turnout, and sometimes opens door to foreign interference at the nomination stage.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/ | title=As Partisan Hostility Grows, Signs of Frustration with the Two-Party System | date=9 August 2022 }}</ref> 

The opponents of PR also contend that coalition governments created under PR are less stable, and elections are more frequent. Italy is an often-cited example with many governments composed of many different coalition partners. However, Italy is unusual in that both its houses can make a government fall, whereas other countries, including many PR nations, have either just one house or have one of their two houses be the core body supporting a government. Italy's current [[Italian electoral law of 2017|parallel voting system]] is not PR, so Italy is not an appropriate candidate for measuring the stability of PR.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} Canada, which uses FPTP with a multi-party system, had more elections between 1945 and 2017 than PR countries such as Norway, Germany and Ireland.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}