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In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections.^[1] Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional representation compared to those using winner-take-all elections, a result known as Duverger's law.

In these countries, usually no single party has a parliamentary majority by itself (hung parliaments). Instead, multiple political parties must negotiate to form a coalition with a majority of the vote, in order to make substantial changes.

Comparisons with other party systems

Unlike a one-party system (or a dominant-party system), a multi-party system encourages the general constituency to form multiple distinct, officially recognized groups, generally called political parties. Each party competes for votes from the enfranchised constituents (those allowed to vote). A multi-party system prevents the leadership of a single party from controlling a single legislative chamber without challenge.

A system where only two parties have a realistic possibility of winning an election is called a two-party system. A system where only three parties have a realistic possibility of winning an election or forming a coalition is sometimes called a "third-party system".^{[citation needed]}

A two-party system requires voters to align themselves in large blocks, sometimes so large that they cannot agree on any overarching principles. Some theories argue that this allows centrists to gain control, though this is disputed. On the other hand, if there are multiple major parties, each with less than a majority of the vote, the parties are strongly motivated to work together to form working governments. This also promotes centrism, as well as promoting coalition-building skills while discouraging polarization.^[2]^[3]

By country

Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine are examples of countries with multi-party systems.

References

^ Education 2020 definition of multiparty: "A system in which several major and many lesser parties exist, seriously compete for, and actually win public offices."
^ The social science literature has contributed enormously in recent years on the effects on forms of government and quality of life of the citizens. Lowell's axiom is one of the most tested theory empirically tested (Lowell, A.L., 1896). Governments and Parties in Continental Europe. Bostin, MA: Houghton Mifflin)..
^ Basu, K., Dey Biswas, S., Harish, P., Dhar, S., & Lahiri, M. (2016). Is multi-party coalition government better for the protection of socially backward classes in India? UN-WIDER Working Paper, 2016 (109).

[1] Education 2020 definition of multiparty: "A system in which several major and many lesser parties exist, seriously compete for, and actually win public offices."

[2] The social science literature has contributed enormously in recent years on the effects on forms of government and quality of life of the citizens. Lowell's axiom is one of the most tested theory empirically tested (Lowell, A.L., 1896). Governments and Parties in Continental Europe. Bostin, MA: Houghton Mifflin)..

[3] Basu, K., Dey Biswas, S., Harish, P., Dhar, S., & Lahiri, M. (2016). Is multi-party coalition government better for the protection of socially backward classes in India? UN-WIDER Working Paper, 2016 (109).

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 {{Party politics}}
 {{politics}}
-In [[political science]], a '''multi-party system''' is a [[political system]] in which multiple [[political parties]] across the [[political spectrum]] run for national [[election]]s, and all have the capacity to gain control of [[government]] offices, separately or in [[coalition government|coalition]].<ref>[http://student.education2020.com/activities/vocab.aspx?keystr=12674&order=02010205&stbl=2196465 Education 2020] definition of ''multiparty'': "A system in which several major and many lesser parties exist, seriously compete for, and actually win public offices."</ref> Apart from [[Dominant-party system|one-party-dominant]] and [[two-party system]]s, multi-party systems tend to be more common in [[parliamentary system]]s than [[presidential system]]s and far more common in countries that use [[proportional representation]] compared to countries that use [[first-past-the-post]] elections. Several parties compete for power and all of them have reasonable chance of forming government.
+In [[political science]], a '''multi-party system''' is a [[political system]] where more than two meaningfully-distinct [[political parties]] regularly run for office and win [[election]]s.<ref>[http://student.education2020.com/activities/vocab.aspx?keystr=12674&order=02010205&stbl=2196465 Education 2020] definition of ''multiparty'': "A system in which several major and many lesser parties exist, seriously compete for, and actually win public offices."</ref> Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using [[proportional representation]] compared to those using [[Winner-take-all system|winner-take-all]] elections, a result known as [[Duverger's law]].
+In these countries, usually no single party has a parliamentary majority by itself ([[hung parliament]]s). Instead, multiple political parties must negotiate to form a [[coalition]] with a majority of the vote, in order to make substantial changes.
-In multi-party systems that use proportional representation, each party wins a number of [[legislative seat]]s proportional to the number of votes it receives. Under first-past-the-post, the electorate is divided into a number of districts, each of which selects one person to fill one seat by a [[plurality voting|plurality of the vote]]. First-past-the-post is not conducive to a proliferation of parties, and naturally gravitates toward a two-party system, in which only two parties have a real chance of electing their candidates to office. This gravitation is known as [[Duverger's law]]. Proportional representation, on the other hand, does not have this tendency, and allows multiple major parties to arise. Proportional systems may have [[Electoral district|multi-member districts]] with more than one representative elected from a given district to the same legislative body, and thus a greater number of viable parties. Duverger's law states that the number of viable political parties is one, plus the number of seats in a district.
-[[Argentina]], [[Armenia]], [[Belgium]], [[Brazil]], [[Denmark]], [[Finland]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Iceland]], [[India]], [[Indonesia]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], the [[Netherlands]], [[New Zealand]], [[Norway]], the [[Philippines]], [[Poland]], [[Sweden]], [[Tunisia]], and [[Ukraine]] are examples of nations that have used a multi-party system effectively in their democracies. In these countries, usually no single party has a parliamentary majority by itself. Instead, multiple political parties are compelled to form compromised [[coalition]]s for the purpose of developing power blocks and attaining legitimate [[Mandate (politics)|mandate]].
 == Comparisons with other party systems ==
 Unlike a [[One-party state|one-party system]] (or a [[dominant-party system]]), a multi-party system encourages the general [[constituency]] to form multiple distinct, officially recognized groups, generally called [[political party|political parties]]. Each party competes for votes from the [[suffrage|enfranchised]] constituents (those allowed to vote). A multi-party system prevents the leadership of a single party from controlling a single [[legislative]] chamber without challenge.
-A system where only two parties have the possibility of winning an election is called a two-party system. A system where only three parties have a ''realistic possibility'' of winning an election or forming a [[coalition government|coalition]] is sometimes called a "[[Third party (politics)|third-party]] system". But, in some cases the system is called a "Stalled Third-Party System," when there are three parties and all three parties win a large number of votes, but only two have a chance of winning an election.{{original research inline|date=May 2022}} Usually, this is because the electoral system penalises the third party, e.g. as in Canadian or UK politics.
+A system where only two parties have a realistic possibility of winning an election is called a [[two-party system]]. A system where only three parties have a ''realistic possibility'' of winning an election or forming a [[coalition government|coalition]] is sometimes called a "[[Third party (politics)|third-party]] system".{{Cn|date=July 2024}}
+A two-party system requires voters to align themselves in large blocks, sometimes so large that they cannot agree on any overarching principles. Some theories argue that this allows [[centrism|centrist]]s to gain control, though this is disputed. On the other hand, if there are multiple major parties, each with less than a majority of the vote, the parties are strongly motivated to work together to form working governments. This also promotes centrism, as well as promoting coalition-building skills while discouraging polarization.<ref>The social science literature has contributed enormously in recent years on the effects on forms of government and quality of life of the citizens. Lowell's axiom is one of the most tested theory empirically tested (Lowell, A.L., 1896). [https://www.academia.edu/29273929/Is_multi-party_coalition_government_better_for_the_protection_of_socially_backward_classes_in_India Governments and Parties in Continental Europe. Bostin, MA: Houghton Mifflin).].</ref><ref>Basu, K., Dey Biswas, S., Harish, P., Dhar, S., & Lahiri, M. (2016). Is multi-party coalition government better for the protection of socially backward classes in India? UN-WIDER Working Paper, 2016 (109).</ref>
+== By country ==
-A two-party system voters to align themselves in large blocks, sometimes so large that they cannot agree on any overarching principles. Some theories argue that this allows [[centrism|centrist]]s to gain control, though this is disputed. On the other hand, if there are multiple major parties, each with less than a majority of the vote, the parties are strongly motivated to work together to form working governments. This also promotes centrism, as well as promoting coalition-building skills while discouraging polarization.<ref>The social science literature has contributed enormously in recent years on the effects on forms of government and quality of life of the citizens. Lowell’s axiom is one of the most tested theory empirically tested (Lowell, A.L., 1896). [https://www.academia.edu/29273929/Is_multi-party_coalition_government_better_for_the_protection_of_socially_backward_classes_in_India Governments and Parties in Continental Europe. Bostin, MA: Houghton Mifflin).].</ref><ref>Basu, K., Dey Biswas, S., Harish, P., Dhar, S., & Lahiri, M. (2016). Is multi-party coalition government better for the protection of socially backward classes in India? UN-WIDER Working Paper, 2016 (109).</ref>
+[[Argentina]], [[Armenia]], [[Belgium]], [[Brazil]], [[Canada]], [[Denmark]], [[Finland]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Iceland]], [[India]], [[Indonesia]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Israel]], the [[Netherlands]], [[New Zealand]], [[Norway]], the [[Philippines]], [[Poland]], [[Sweden]], [[Tunisia]], [[Turkey]] and [[Ukraine]] are examples of countries with multi-party systems.
 ==See also==
+* [[List of ruling political parties by country]]
 * [[Polarized pluralism]]
 * [[Political organisation]]

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