This book investigates why government instability is particularly evident in Italy compared to other European political systems. It focuses on three main dimensions. Firstly, it examines the historical, institutional, and social roots of instability by providing insights into the sources of instability, from the country’s constitutional architecture to the lack of social and political cohesion produced by a difficult unification process. Secondly, leveraging an original multilevel dataset, the book performs an in-depth analysis of the nexus between instability and policymaking accountability, and a quantitative empirical analysis to identify factors increasing the risk of cabinet termination. Finally, the book provides scholars and pundits with empirically-based policy recommendations on how to solve the instability issue.
