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A coalition is an alliance among parties, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant. Possibly described as a joining of 'factions'.

Contents 1 Politics and government 1.1 Economics 1.2 Political science 1.3 Military 2 Mathematics 3 Computer science 4 Fiction 5 See also 6 External links

A coalition government, in a parliamentary system, is a government composed of a coalition of parties. In Australia, the Coalition is also used to refer to an alliance (coalition agreement) of three parties (the Liberals, Nationals and Country Liberals) existing in federal politics since 1922—this constitutes a parliamentary coalition. A coalition of parties is also an electoral fusion.

Also in the Cambridge Dictionary:the union of different political parties or groups for a particular purpose, usually for a limited time

In international relations, a coalition can be an ad hoc grouping of nations united for a specific purpose. Sometimes, such groups are diverse and are characterized by some degree of commonalities. Sometimes, the degree of uncommonalities would lead some to perceive the group's bond as being ordinarily unlikely; here it can indicate the fact the historical ties may no longer be in operation, and the coalition members, instead, are joined by a new intention, not necessarily prior bonds.

A coalition might also refer to a group of citizens uniting behind a common goal. Many of these are grassroots organizations, like the Christian Coalition.

A coalition in economics refers to a group of companies that create a mutual trust between each other in order for increased profit. For example, Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins create a coalition by having shared stores and thus shared revenue.

Within political science, coalition theory is using game theory to analyze formation, workings and break-up of coalitions .

A coalition is a collection of countries involved in a military operation who are unified under a single command. An example is the coalition assembled by George H.W. Bush during the Persian Gulf War, as well as the "Coalition of the Willing", a phrase employed during the 2003 campaign for the war in Iraq led by the United States and its allies [1].

Coalitions can be studied as games. The Nash equilibrium defines conditions where rational players can benefit other players in the coalition.

In the computer field, and in the study of cognition, the entities can be called agents or daemons. By definition, agents can form coalitions.

• The Coalition, a group in the Star Fleet Universe, the General War era.

• Axelrod's book, The Evolution of Cooperation
• united front
• Coalition (Australia)
• List of political parties in Israel
• Multi-party system

• Mapleleaf Web - Coalition Governments in Canada