Parliaments and government formation : unpacking investiture rules / edited by Bjørn Erik Rasch, Shane Martin, and José Antonio Cheibub.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Investiture rules and government formation / Bjørn Erik Rasch, Shane Martin, and José Antonio Cheibub -- Parliament and government formation in the United Kingdom : a hidden vote of investiture? / Alexandra Kelso -- Changing investiture rules in Belgium / Audrey André, Sam Depauw, and Kris Deschouwer -- Investiture rules in Germany : stacking the deck against minority governments / Steffen Ganghof and Christian Stecker -- A rule for all seasons? Investiture and government formation in Hungary / Péter Horváth -- Progressive ambition : the role of the European parliament in appointing the European Commission / Fabio Sozzi -- Government formation in Ireland : learning to live without a majority party / Shane Martin -- Government formation in Italy : the challenge of bicameral investiture / Federico Russo -- Why minority governments in Spain ? How the party system undermines investiture rules / Natalia Ajenjo -- Investiture rules and minority governments in Poland / Radoslaw Zubek -- Changing investiture rules in the Czech Republic / Robert Zbíral -- Strong investiture rules and minority governments in Romania / Cristina Chiva -- Parliamentary investiture rules in Portugal's semi-presidential democracy / Cristina Leston-Bandeira and Jorge M. Fernandes -- Weak investiture rules and the emergence of minority governments in Sweden / Helena Wockelberg -- Parliamentary parties in the Netherlands : informal investiture behind closed doors / André Krouwel and Jelle Koedam -- Government investiture in India : formal rules and informal practices / Csaba Nikolenyi -- France : excluding parliament from government formation / Iris Nguyên-Duy -- Hire or fire? The link between cabinet investiture and removal in parliamentary democracies / Ulrich Sieberer -- Investiture rules unpacked / Bjørn Erik Rasch, Shane Martin, and José Antonio Cheibub.

"Parliaments and Government Formation explores the role of national legislatures in shaping government formation in parliamentary regimes. Under parliamentarism, the government comes from, and remains responsible to, the national parliament. Yet, although legislatures and the politics of government formation are two of the most studied phenomenon in comparative politics, relatively little attention has focused on the degree to which parliamentary rules and procedures impact government formation. For instance, exactly what does 'come from parliament' mean in the context of government formation? To answer this question, the volume seeks to 'unpack' the parliamentary investiture vote. Investiture consists of a vote in parliament to demonstrate that an already formed or about to be formed government has legislative support. The volume analyses investiture along six dimensions: (1) the number of chambers involved in government formation, (2) the exact topic of any investiture vote - for example whether the votes focuses on one or more of the prime ministership, the cabinet and/or the government's policy program, (3) the sequencing and timing of the vote in the overall game of government formation, (4) the decision rule - for example absolute majority, simple or some form of negative parliamentarism, (5) the number of rounds provided for, and (6) what happens in the event of a failure to invest a government. Each of the 16 case studies, written by leading scholars of legislative politics in their respective polities, seeks to describe the institutional rules and practices and analyse their origins and consequences. These case studies are supplemented with two comparative chapters." --cover description