An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of
political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
Each of the parties within the alliance has its own
policies but chooses temporarily to put aside differences in favour of common goals and ideology in order to pool their voters' support and get elected. On occasion, an electoral alliance may be formed by parties with very different policy goals, which agree to pool resources in order to stop a particular candidate or party from gaining power.
Unlike a
coalition formed after an election, the partners in an electoral alliance usually do not run candidates against one another but encourage their supporters to vote for candidates from the other members of the alliance. In some agreements with a larger party enjoying a higher degree of success at the polls, the smaller party fields candidates under the banner of the larger party, with the elected members of the smaller party sitting with the elected members of the larger party in the cabinet or legislature. They usually aim to continue co-operation after the election, for example by campaigning together on issues on which they have common views.
By offering to endorse or nominate a major party's candidate, minor parties may be in position to influence the candidate's platform.
By country
Argentina
The
Frente de Todos (Everybody's Front or Front for All)
) is a coalition of
peronist and
kirchnerist political parties and associations in Argentina formed in 2019 to support the candidacy of
Alberto Fernández
Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019.
Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...
and
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...
in the
2019 Argentine general election.
Juntos por el Cambio
( en, Together for Change) is a centre-right political coalition in Argentina. It was created in 2015 as Cambiemos ( en, Let's Change), and renamed in 2019. It is composed of Republican Proposal, Radical Civic Union, Civic Coalition ARI and ...
(Together for Change) is an
Argentine big tent[El desafío que la nueva alianza opositora debe pasar en Diputados](_blank)
/ref>
/ref> political coalition
This is a list of political groups by country. A political group also known as a political alliance, coalition or bloc, is cooperation by members of different political parties on a common agenda of some kind. This usually involves formal agreem ...
. It was created in 2015 as Cambiemos
( en, Together for Change) is a centre-right political coalition in Argentina. It was created in 2015 as Cambiemos ( en, Let's Change), and renamed in 2019. It is composed of Republican Proposal, Radical Civic Union, Civic Coalition ARI and U ...
(Let's Change), and renamed in 2019. It is composed of Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal ( es, link=no, Propuesta Republicana) is a centre-right
political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to by its abbreviation, PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national p ...
(PRO), the Radical Civic Union (UCR), the Civic Coalition (CC-ARI) and sectors of Federal Peronism since the arrival of Miguel Ángel Pichetto
Miguel Ángel Pichetto (born 24 October 1950) is an Argentine lawyer and conservative peronist politician. He is Auditor General of the Nation. He was National Senator for Río Negro Province for eighteen years and was the vice-presidential can ...
to the national coalition.
Armenia
Prior to the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incum ...
, the Republic Party formed an electoral alliance known as the We Alliance
The We Alliance ( hy, Մենք դաշինք, translit=Menk’ dashink’) was a liberal political alliance of two political parties in Armenia: the Republic Party and the Free Democrats.
History
The alliance was formed on 10 November 2018, lea ...
with the Free Democrats. Both parties campaigned on a similar Pro-European platform and sought to challenge a competing electoral alliance known as the My Step Alliance
The My Step Alliance ( hy, Իմ Քայլը դաշինք, Im Kaylə Dashink', IKD) was a political alliance in Armenia formed by the Civil Contract party, the Mission Party and various independent representatives of civil society. It was formed i ...
.
Barbados
The Alliance Party for Progress
The Alliance Party for Progress (APP) is a Christian and social democratic electoral alliance in Barbados. It was formed on the 30 December 2021 by the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the People's Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) to ...
(APP) is a Christian and social democratic electoral alliance in Barbados. It was formed on 30 December 2021 by the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the People's Party for Democracy and Development
The People's Party for Democracy and Development (PdP), abbreviated as the People's Party, is a political party in Barbados established on 8 June 2019 and led by Joseph Atherley. At its foundation, it served as the main opposition party in bot ...
(PdP) to contest the 2022 Barbadian general election. It is headed by the leader of the PdP, Bishop Joseph Atherley
Joseph Junior Sylvester Atherley (born 26 February 1954) is a Barbadian religious minister and politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly of Barbados from 2018 to 2022, and as leader of the People's Party for Dem ...
, with the leader of the UPP Lynette Eastmond
Lynnette, also spelled Lynette, is a feminine given name.
People
* Lynette Boggs (born 1963), American politician
* Lynnette Brooky (born 1968), New Zealand golfer
* Lynette Chico (21st century), Puerto Rican fashion model and actress
* Lynnett ...
becoming deputy head.
Belgium
In Belgium, the Dutch term for an electoral alliance is . Current include the following:
* Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats
french: Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts
, abbreviation = Open Vld
, logo =
, leader1_title = President
, leader1_name = Egbert Lachaert
, foundation = 1992 (VLD)2007 (Open Vld)
, predecessor = P ...
, composed of the parties Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Vivant, and Liberal Appeal
* Mouvement Réformateur
The Reformist Movement (french: Mouvement Réformateur, MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium. MR is traditionally a conservative-liberal party, but it also contains social-liberal factions.
The party is in coalition as ...
, composed of the Liberal Reformist Party, the Citizens' Movement for Change, and the Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt
The Party for Freedom and Progress (german: Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt, PFF) is a regional liberal political party in the German-speaking Community of Belgium.
The party still retains the German version of the name of the all-Belgian li ...
* Vlaams Belang and VLOTT
Previous include the following:
* SP.A–Spirit
* Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams/ Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie
* Mouvement Réformateur
The Reformist Movement (french: Mouvement Réformateur, MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium. MR is traditionally a conservative-liberal party, but it also contains social-liberal factions.
The party is in coalition as ...
/ Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones
Denmark
The Red-Green Alliance was formed as an electoral alliance between the Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
(DKP), the Left Socialists
Left Socialists ( da, Venstresocialisterne) was a political party in Denmark. The party worked on what it called an "undogmatic revolutionary and Marxist basis". It was formed in 1967 as a split from the Socialist People's Party (SF).
In 1989 ...
(VS), and the Socialist Workers Party (SAP) in 1989. It reformed itself as a unified party in 1991, but the participating parties continue on their own in some ways (for example by having their own separate party newspapers).
Greece
The Syriza Party started out as an electoral alliance but then united into a single party.
Italy
Since 1994, Italian politics has been divided into two main blocs, the centre-right and the Centre-left coalitions; which under various forms alternatively led the country for more than two decades.
Netherlands
Combination of lists
The possibility of combination of party lists for elections existed in the Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
electoral system between 1973 and June 2017 as a weak form of electoral alliance between two parties. It was abolished in June 2017 after being earlier abandoned for Senate elections.
In a system of proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
not all seats are immediately divided, some seats remain undivided remainder seats
In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient (integer division). In algebr ...
. In the Netherlands these are allocated by the D'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest ...
. This method strongly favours larger parties (often smaller parties get no remainder seats, whereas the three largest parties get two each). But if smaller parties form an alliance their votes are added up for the distribution of seats, so this increases their chances of getting one. With a ''lijstverbinding'' or '' kartel'' two parties can pool their votes in order to gain more remainders seats.
Often these two parties are ideologically related, in the 2003 general elections for example the Socialist Party and GreenLeft
GroenLinks (, ) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands.
It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of th ...
formed a ''lijstverbinding''. In the 2004 European elections the social-democratic PvdA and GreenLeft formed a ''lijstverbinding''. The Orthodox Protestant Reformed Political Party and Christian Union also usually form a ''lijstverbinding''.
Common list
In a common list two or more political parties share a list and often have a common political programme for the election. The participating political parties are identifiable for the voters because the names of these parties are mentioned on the voting paper. It is similar to electoral fusion.
United Kingdom
Labour and Co-operative
An electoral alliance survives to this day between the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fair ...
, which fields Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party.
Candidat ...
candidates in general elections in several constituencies, and in some local council elections. They have jointly contested elections since the 1927 Cheltenham Agreement. As of the 2019 general election, there are 38 Labour Co-operative MPs, the fourth-largest political grouping in the Commons
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...
(after the Conservative Party, Labour and the Scottish National Party).
SDP–Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance began in 1981, shortly after the Limehouse Declaration. The Alliance contested the 1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
and 1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
elections, and became defunct in 1988, when the parties merged into the Liberal Democrats. In the first few years of the alliance, Liberals and Social Democrats were very confident it would be a success, David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...
even suggesting that Alliance could form the next government. Later on, however, the alliance faced difficulty with political and personal clashes between Steel and David Owen, as well as presentation issues (such as contradiction on policy). When the parties merged in 1988, Owen did not join the Liberal Democrats.
TUSC
A socialist coalition comprising RMT, Socialist Party, Solidarity, &c. candidates, the TUSC formed to contest the 2010 general election. The alliance has been consistently electorally unsuccessful, also contesting the 2015 general election, but endorsing Labour in 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
.
Unite to Remain
In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, pro-EU parties formed a pact in English and Welsh seats.
Other examples
*United Torah Judaism
United Torah Judaism ( he, יהדות התורה, ''Yahadut HaTora''), often referred to by its electoral symbol Gimel (), is a Haredi, religious conservative political alliance in Israel. The alliance, consisting of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaT ...
in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
* Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, which functioned in Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, 2001-2011
*Unitary Democratic Coalition
The Unitary Democratic Coalition ( pt, CDU – Coligação Democrática Unitária, PCP–PEV) is an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português or PCP) and the Ecologist Party "The G ...
(Unitarian Democratic Coalition) in Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
*Labour and Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party.
Candida ...
in the United Kingdom
*Ulster Conservatives and Unionists
The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the ''Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force'' (''UCUNF''), was an electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Conservative P ...
in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
* Socialist Alliance in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
*Tripartite Alliance
The Tripartite Alliance is an alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). The ANC holds a majority in the South African parliament, while ...
(including the ANC
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
and SACP) in South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
*Democratic Unity Roundtable
The Democratic Unity Roundtable ( es, Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, MUD) was a catch-all electoral coalition of Venezuelan political parties formed in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez's United Socialist Party of ...
in Venezuela
* National Democratic Alliance in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
* Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) in Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
* People's Alliance in Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
*Progressive alliance
The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of social democratic and progressive political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Socia ...
in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
* Solidarity–People Before Profit in Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
*Junts pel Sí
Junts pel Sí (; en, "Together for Yes", sometimes translated as "Together for the Yes"; JxSí) was a Catalan electoral, political and parliamentary alliance focused on achieving the independence of Catalonia from Spain. Established ahead of t ...
in Catalonia, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
* Unidas Podemos in Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
*UniTeam Alliance
The UniTeam Alliance is an electoral alliance in the Philippines formed to support the candidacies of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte in the 2022 presidential and vice-presidential elections and their allies in the 2022 Philippine general el ...
in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
See also
* Apparentment
* Electoral list
* Tactical voting
* Political coalition
This is a list of political groups by country. A political group also known as a political alliance, coalition or bloc, is cooperation by members of different political parties on a common agenda of some kind. This usually involves formal agreem ...
* Electoral fusion
* Vote swapping
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Electoral Alliance
Election campaign terminology