This article deals with the accountability of coalition governments in multi-party systems. How does government responsibility affect popular support for parties? To what extent are `blame' and `credit' conditioned by the ideological distinctiveness of the parties concerned? These questions are analysed by investigating the electoral fate of incumbent parties in The Netherlands and Norway. Two case studies from these countries are also presented. The analysis reveals that it is rare for parties in a coalition government to suffer the same electoral fate. In the Dutch system, only the Liberal Conservatives show a fairly consistent pattern of losing as incumbents. This fate is shared by the Norwegian Conservatives. Analysis of the aggregate election results suggests that parties competing on the left-right dimension are penalized more for incumbency than are parties with other ideological leanings. In addition, the two case studies support the proposition that `blame' and `credit' are related to the economic performance of the government in general and the ideological distinctiveness of the parties in particular. Overall, the analysis indicates that voter expectations towards government performance are related to the control that the various parties can exert over distinct areas of policy.
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