# Majority government

Part of the Politics series :
Party politics :
Political Spectrum
Left-Wing
Far-LeftCentre-Left
Centre
Centre-LeftRadical CentreCentre-Right
Right-Wing
Centre-RightFar-Right :
Major Ideologies
Agrarianism
Anarchism
Christian democracy
Communism
Conservatism
Environmentalism
Fascism
Feminism
Green politics
Hindutva
Islamism
Liberalism
Libertarianism
Monarchism
Nationalism
Populism
Progressivism
Classical radicalism
Republicanism
Social democracy
Socialism
Syncretism
Third Way :
Types
Bloc party
Elite party
Cartel party
Competitive
Catch-all party
Entrepreneurial party
Ethnic party
Major party / Minor party
Mass party
Ruling party
Opposition party
Parliamentary opposition
Party of power
Official party status
Single-issue party
Transnational / International :
Leaders and organization
Backbencher
Caucus
Caucus chair
Frontbencher
Lead candidate
Leader of the Opposition
Majority leader
Minority leader
Political faction
Parliamentary leader
Party chair
Party leader
Party spokesperson
Secretary
Shadow cabinet
Whip :
Internal elections
Primary election
Leadership election
Open list
Party convention/conference
Leadership convention :
Party discipline
Conscience vote
Crossing the floor
Party discipline
Party line
Party-line vote
Party switching :
Party systems
One-party
Dominant-partyTwo-partyMulti-party
Non-partisan :
Coalitions between parties
Parliamentary group
Divided government
Coalition government
Confidence and supply
Consensus government
Grand coalition
Hung parliament
Majority government
Minority government
National unity government
Rotation government :
Lists of political parties
Ruling parties by country
Political parties by region
Banned political parties :
Politics portal :
vte :
A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multiple parties. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the government doesn't have a majority, and needs to cooperate with opposition parties to get legislation passed. A government majority determines the balance of power. A government is not a majority government if it only has a majority when counting parties outside the government that have a confidence agreement with it.
A majority government is usually assured of having its legislation passed and rarely if ever, has to fear being defeated in parliament, a state also known as a working majority. In contrast, a minority government must constantly bargain for support from other parties in order to pass legislation and avoid being defeated on motions of no confidence. Single-party majority governments tend to be formed in the aftermath of strong election performances.
The term "majority government" may also be used for a stable long-term coalition of two or more parties to form an absolute majority. One example of such an electoral coalition is in Australia, where the Liberal and National parties have run as an electoral bloc, known simply as the Coalition, for decades. The Coalition is the only party or coalition in Australia to have won at least 90 of the 151 seats in the House of Representatives at a federal election (this has happened three times, in 1975, in 1996 and 2013). The largest majority government in Australia was elected in 1975, when the Coalition won 71.65% of the seats in a landslide victory.
In electoral systems where one party usually wins a majority of seats on their own, such as first past the post, coalitions are rare, but may happen when an election returns a hung parliament. An example of this was the 2010–2015 coalition government in the United Kingdom, which was composed of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives won the most seats of any single party in the 2010 election, but fell short of an absolute majority. However, by combining with the Liberal Democrats a solid majority in the House of Commons was created. This was the first true coalition government in the UK since World War II.
Majority government differs from consensus government or national unity government in not requiring a consensus or supermajority.