Page "Coalition government" Paragraph 27

According to historian Christopher Moore, coalition governments in Canada became much less possible in 1919 when the leaders of parties were no longer chosen by elected MPs, but instead began to be chosen by party members.

That kind of leadership selection process had never been tried in any parliament system before, and remains uncommon in the parliaments of the world today.

According to Moore, as long as that kind of leadership selection process remains in place, and concentrates power in the hands of the leader, as opposed to backbenchers, then coalition governments will be very difficult to form.

Moore shows that the diffusion of power within a party tends to also lead to a diffusion of power in the parliament in which that party operates, thereby making coalitions more likely.