Azerbaijan is a one-party dominant state, meaning that is a system of majority rule where one political party, in this case the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, has successively won election victories by a very large majority and is therefore the dominant ruling party, which does not have to form coalitions (alliances) with other smaller political parties as a result. The one party dominant state differs from a one-party state, because opposition parties against the New Azerbaijan Party are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. 