Multi-party system

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In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections.^[1] Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional representation compared to those using winner-take-all elections, a result known as Duverger's law.

In these countries, usually no single party has a parliamentary majority by itself (hung parliaments). Instead, multiple political parties must negotiate to form a coalition with a majority of the vote, in order to make substantial changes.