How do new parties shape policymaking in coalition governments? Bill timing in the Czech Republic and Slovenia

The entry of new parties into governments is often met with skepticism concerning their ability of joint policymaking with established coalition partners. Upon assuming government responsibility, new parties are motivated to counteract such perceptions by demonstrating both their competence and cooperativeness. The article examines this double signaling strategy on the temporal dimension of legislation, by analyzing the timing of bill initiation in Czech and Slovenian cabinets between 2000 and 2022. The event history analysis of 1591 bills submitted by seven Czech cabinets and 1894 bills submitted by ten Slovenian cabinets suggests the presence of ‘competence signaling’ strategy in both countries, as new parties initiate their legislation sooner compared to established parties. The evidence of ‘cooperation signaling’ is limited to the Czech Republic, where the established party legislation is initiated more swiftly if salient for new parties. The results of this study contribute to the ongoing debate on the consequences of new parties for coalition governance.