Rudy B. Andeweg is Professor of Political Science at Leiden University, the Netherlands.Lieven De Winter is Professor of Comparative Politics and co-director of the Belgian National Election Study, Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.Patrick Dumont is a researcher at the University of Luxembourg.

'[This book] indicates important elemnts that have been missing in models, but also what remain beyond the reach of general models of coalition formation. It is thus essential reading for anybody interested in coalition research and some of the more recent developments therein.' - Martin Molder, Central European University

• 1. From Coalition Theory to Coalition Puzzles Patrick Dumont, Lieven De Winter and Rudy Andeweg 2. A Neglected Alternative? Psychological Approaches to Coalition Formation Ilja Van Beest 3. When Median-Legislator Theory Fails: The Swedish Greens in 1998 and 2002 Nicholas Aylott and Torbj¢rn Bergman 4. Coalition Bargaining in an Unforgiving Environment: The Case of Bondevik II in Norway Hanne Marthe Narud and Kaare Str¢m 5. Successful Failure: Ill-Conceived Pre-Commitments and Welcome Bargaining Failure Paving the Way to Minority Government in Austria Wolfgang Müller 6. ‘Spain is Different’: Explaining Minority Governments by Diverging Party Goals Josep M. Reniu I Vilamela 7. The Rainbow Coalition: A Surplus Majority Coalition in Finland Ann-Cathrin Jungar 8. Purple Puzzles: The 1994 and 1998 Government Formations in the Netherlands and Coalition Theory Rudy B. Andeweg 9. The Belgian Rainbow Coalition: Optical Illusion or Mechanical Phenomenon? Patrick Dumont 10. From Puzzles to Prospects for Coalition Theory Rudy B. Andeweg