What factors affect government stability in European countries? Why might a cabinet resign? What happens next?
There are many different factors that that affect government stability in European countries. More stable countries such as Spain and Britain tend to last a full parliamentary term. Other countries in Europe such as Italy and Finland, while stable occasionally struggle to reach a full parliamentary term and dissolve before it can be reached. The common measure that is used to determine whether the government has survived its full term is that on government ends and a new government takes office because the members of the cabinet change. There are certain attributes about cabinets themselves and aspects of the political environment that can contribute to the level of government stability.
Cabinet attributes can be a helpful determinant of the stability of a government. For example, research shows single party governments tend to survive longer than coalition style government. Additionally, it has also been found that majority governments last longer than minority governments. Minority coalition governments therefore being the least stable. If the cabinet is fragmented ideologically this is also tends to reduce the cabinet’s longevity. System attributes also affect the life span of a stable government in Europe. Specifically, when the system holds large numbers of smaller parties it can lead to instability due to the unstable parliamentary arithmetic. If this situation is true for a system, the fragmented parties and if the ideological polarization of the party system is high, the government stability is usually producing a less durable cabinet.
It is also important to consider the affects that critical events may have on a government’s duration and stability. Unpredictable events will easily take out governments that lack durability. Governments that are more durable are able to bounce back from critical events and remain strong. A cabinet may resign for a number of reasons, due to unforeseen circumstances in less durable governments or the turnover of cabinet ministers. Following a cabinet resignation there is a period of instability for the country as new elections are needed. An early election provides politicians with less time and therefore less incentive to keep the current government in place.