As a Two-Party-System, you maybe don't understand the Trump-R-D love-triangle. I'll explain:

[DetlefK]

You see, other democracies have more than two parties. Their parliaments usually consist of roughly 5 parties. The number can be as high as 15, but usually it's good enough to focus on the Top 5 and ignore the smaller ones.

You see, when the popular vote is divided up among so many parties, it becomes unavoidable for parties to form coalitions to form a government, because it becomes almost impossible to get 51% of the vote. Two parties negotiate, I'll-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine, and a government is formed from members of two parties.

Likewise, the opposition-parties are united in their purpose to oppose the government, but otherwise still rivals.





The situation you are currently experiencing in the US, with Trump playing footsie with the Democrats, is not unheard of in other countries. It will play out like this:

1.
It starts with a powerless President who no longer has the backing of his own party in parliament. Or who suddenly loses the majority in parliament because a minor party leaves the government-coalition.

2.
The President now has two choices: a) New elections, though that could put him out of power. b) Keep on governing by scrapping together any votes you can get from whomever.

3.
The President now starts passing laws/bills/budgets with changing majorities. He's taking votes from whomever, backstabbing old friends and allying with new ones just to pass his newest policy.

4.
This will work... for a while. We are talking weeks and months here.

5.
Eventually, the political parties get tired of him repeatedly backstabbing them and repeatedly selling them out. They realize that their political demands are met maybe halfway, but that the President gets all of his political demands in these changing partnerships. They refuse to work with him at all.

6.
The President will try switching to governing by executive orders, but there's only so much the parliament is willing to accept. The government will practically come to a standstill. Nothing gets passed, nothing gets done.

7.
The parties decide to get rid of the President and give it a fresh start. Premature new elections are called.



That the extreme version how it would play out in a multi-party democracy. Usually, when it becomes clear that the President no longer has the backing of the parliament, new elections are called rightaway.

[brooklynite]

1. No Parliamentary leader attempts to govern without support from his own Party

They DON'T reach out to the minority Parties to create a new governing coalition on the fly; they either call for new elections, or step down and let someone else from their Party run things.

[JayhawkSD]

2. We cannot "call for premature new elections" in this country. nt