Exploring coalition behaviour in the allocation of Portuguese local government portfolios

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to begin to explore coalition behaviour in Portuguese local government. Electoral rules exclude formal post-electoral coalition formation here. Given this, why study coalition behaviour in Portuguese local government? We argue that there is a coalition-like type of bargaining in the form of delegation, i.e., the distribution of portfolios to some but not all members of councils. This makes Portuguese local governments attractive sites for study. In the paper, we first describe the institutional structure and rules of the game at the local government level. Second, using descriptive evidence on recent local election data, we look at how parties behave post-electorally and discuss how this behaviour in light of the portfolio allocation and coalition bargaining literature.