Canada’s mission in Afghanistan under former prime minister Stephen Harper is an example of how a minority situation for a government can influence foreign policy. Harper is seen here in Kandahar in May 2011, shortly after winning a majority government.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Minority parliaments create a political environment that discourages cabinet from bold acts. That means Justin Trudeau's foreign policy will like be more risk-averse that it was before.
Voters head to cast their ballot in Canada’s federal election in Dartmouth, N.S. The Greens and the NDP need to work together to ensure they do better than just propping up Liberal minorities.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
The progressive left should not content itself with being a junior partner in Liberal minority governments. In the next election, they should seek to propose a principled, realistic alternative.
Justin Trudeau delivers his victory speech in Montréal. Now that he’s leading a minority government, Trudeau will have a more difficult job.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The urgent issues facing Canada during the election are not less urgent now that the election is over. The prime minister is going to have to reinvent himself and commit to some important compromises.
Just a few days before the June 7 election, the Ontario Premier has publicly admitted her party won’t win. She is urging voters to return enough Liberal candidates to ensure a minority PC or NDP government.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Ryan
Ontario voters head to the polls on Thursday. Public opinion surveys and redrawn provincial ridings are making it difficult to predict the race's outcome.
The Tasmanian election result was an emphatic win for Will Hodgman, but he lost a fair bit of skin along the way.
AAP/Julian Smith
Pokies, housing, hospitals and gun laws might have been the specific issues that dominated the campaign, but the decisive factor was Tasmanians’ enduring apprehension about minority government.
There is nothing in the Constitution to deal with the situation in which neither side can form a majority government.
With voters increasingly disillusioned with the two major parties, microparties such as those led by Jacqui Lambie and Nick Xenophon will play a bigger role.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Whatever the outcome of this election, hung parliaments and minority governments will increasingly be a feature of the Australian political landscape.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale (right) and the party’s candidate for the seat of Grayndler, Jim Casey, talk during a visit to the seat.
Paul Miller/AAP
Resembling a rough game of ice hockey, the 2016 campaign already has seen slips, slides and own goals. Neither side has scored a big breakthrough.
It was a novelty when Conservative leader David Cameron had to enlist Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s support to govern, but Britons may have to get used to minority government.
EPA/Andy Rain
The UK is poised for another minority government, this time possibly with a hung parliament. Australia's long experience of such arrangements offers lessons in how to manage minority government.
The UK general election could go either way. The one certainty is that the numbers of seats won won’t match the votes for each party.
AAP/Newzulu/Stephen Chung
This week the "mother of parliaments" faces a general election in the UK. The 'first past the post' electoral system means we can't predict the result with certainty, nor expect it to match the vote.
Miliband might have to canvas some more after the election.
Chris Radburn/PA
Will no one come to the rescue of Britain’s beleaguered political pundits? Seemingly not. Those revered traditional game-changers of UK elections – the budget, a bruising interview with Jeremy Paxman…
A paper-thin victory may be the best these two can hope for.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
With parliament closed, the election campaign is now in full swing and it looks increasingly unlikely that either will win outright. A recent meeting of election forecasters concluded that the UK is heading…
Alex Salmond might not be the leader of the Scottish National Party anymore, but that hasn’t stopped him from speaking out very loudly about his party’s potential role as kingmaker in the 2015 election…