Cooperating without becoming the same party.
Parties can disagree on many issues and still govern together. They negotiate goals, compromises and responsibilities. The result is often recorded in a coalition agreement.
The term describes an alliance for governing. It means neither one ministry nor every group in Parliament. For the exam, ask why the parties are cooperating. Here, the purpose is to form and support a government.
The other three answers
Three related words have different meanings.
Unity.
Unity is a general term for togetherness. The political term for this governing alliance is coalition.
Ministry.
A ministry is an administrative department, such as finance. It is not an alliance of several parties.
Parliamentary group.
A parliamentary group consists of MPs. Coalition parties can retain separate groups in Parliament.
A coalition agreement does not replace a law.
Agreed proposals must still follow the ordinary legal procedures. A political agreement alone does not change existing law.
MPs remain responsible to their conscience. A coalition does not remove their free mandate or guarantee victory in every vote.
Coalition · Parliamentary knowledge ↗Several parties + shared governing work = coalition.
Parliamentary group organises work in Parliament; coalition describes the governing alliance.
Three words for this question
- die Koalitioncoalition
- An alliance of parties for governing together.
- der Kompromisscompromise
- An agreement in which participants adjust their initial demands.
- das Ressortdepartment
- A government’s area of responsibility.