This book offers an explanation for the recurrence of hung parliaments and minority governments in India. The Indian case study provides lessons for the role of the centre in multiparty electoral and parliamentary competition and the political consequences of the first-past-the-post electoral system throughout the world.

1. Introduction 2. Majority Parliaments, Majority Governments: Party Politics before 1989 3. Elections Without Winners 4. The Puzzle of Minority Governments in the Lok Sabha 5. The View from the States 6. Conclusion: Further Implication of Elusive Majorities

Csaba Nikolenyi is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, Canada. He is the co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Political Science and his main research interests are the comparative study of political party systems, electoral systems and patterns of government formation.