A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who is appointed to lead the formation of a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

, after either a

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur is especially important in the politics of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. These countries have a

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

ary system, where the executive derives its mandate from majority support in the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

. They also use

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

for elections to parliament, and have a multiparty system that makes it improbable for one party to win an outright majority. There may be several combinations of parties which might form a coalition. The formateur is traditionally appointed by the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

but in the Netherlands that became the right of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the early 21st century. The formateur most often comes from the largest party in the future coalition (although an even larger party may remain in the opposition) and generally becomes the new

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

if the formation succeeds. Under a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

this appointment may be a reserve power of the monarch, and remains one of the rare moments when a mostly ceremonial monarch may play a significant political role. In

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, the term ''formateur party'' is used to describe the party that makes a proposal in a bargaining process, most often when modeling a government formation.

Informateur

The formateur's work may be preceded by one or more ''informateur''s, also appointed by the same authority as the formateur. The informateur is not expected to finalize a coalition, but attempts to find enough points of agreement to identify a likely coalition, from which a formateur is then selected to conclude a political program and compose a cabinet, usually headed by himself. The informateur should be someone not otherwise considered for ministerial office, although some do obtain a portfolio in the future government. The role is often filled by a retired statesperson of some stature, often a former government minister or party leader. These positions are usually not described in any statute, but they tend to become part of political tradition. Informateurs have become customary in Belgium and the Netherlands since the 1950s.

Belgium

In Belgian political parties, nearly identical political ideologies are represented by distinct parties for each language. This may lead to coalitions of four or more parties. The post of informateur became too prestigious to risk failure, so new terms for essentially the same task were introduced, such as "royal mediator" and "explorer" after the 2007 Belgian government formation failed for months to produce a clear prospect for a majority, and "preformateur" (presumed to succeed himself as formateur and PM if successful) after the 2010 federal elections. The job can even be shared by two conjoint (in)formateurs, e.g. a Flemish and a Francophone one.

Netherlands

In the

, the coalition usually comprises two, three or four parties. Ever since the Netherlands adopted proportional representation in 1918, no party has even come close to winning an outright majority in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. Thus, the formation process is at least as, if not more, important than the election itself. The informateur, who researches the possible coalition options before a new cabinet is formed, is often a veteran politician, member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. Often the informateur presides over talks with possible coalition partners, leading to a communal program, the coalition agreement. Sometimes, after the formation of a cabinet, the informateur becomes a minister. Once the informateur has found a potentially successful coalition, he goes back to the House, who appoints a formateur, who presides over the talks about the ministerial positions that are held between the parties that have already established a ''coalition agreement''.

Subnational government

In provincial and municipal politics, a formateur can also be appointed. In the past, the negotiations were led by the largest party; but especially in tough negotiations, a formateur is appointed to be a "chairman" during the negotiations which is somewhat more neutral. The difference with a formateur on national level is that this local formateur does not report to the king, but to the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

(municipal) or the

King's Commissioner A King's commissioner (, ''CvdK'') is the head of government and legislature in a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands. When the List of monarchs of the Netherlands, reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's commission ...

(provincial).

References

{{Wiktionary Coalition governments Cabinet formation in the Netherlands Cabinet formation in Belgium