Political instability: France, Germany and Italy

Résumé du document

The aim of this essay is to understand and analyze the features of political instability which occurred throughout the 20th century, in France, Germany, and Italy. This objective can be fulfilled by analyzing the works of Almond and Sartori. Almond's work tries to classify the different systems of government into four main types, with regard to their political role structure and their political culture. The other theory, defined by Sartori, deals with the party systems and is mainly focused on plurality and on the ability of parties to form coalitions or to influence other parties. Obviously, the political instability experienced in France is not the same as the one experienced in Germany or in Italy, but most of the causes of this instability have the same causes.

Extraits

[...] Similarly in post-war Italy, political instability was very frequent with a new government forming almost every year. Germany and France achieved stability partially by modernizing their economies, which in turn “performed a ‘social revolution' on the social system that removed those forces that had stunted political development.”[9] This fits in with Almond's model concerning instability in pre-industrial societies. However, the political stability experienced by the 5th Republic within France and modern Italy and Germany is not only the product of modernization, but of many other features. [...]

[...] The other theory, defined by Sartori, deals with the party systems and is mainly focused on plurality and on the ability of parties to form coalitions or to influence other parties. Obviously, the political instability experienced in France is not the same as the one experienced in Germany or in Italy, but most of the causes of this instability have the same roots. One should notice that the two theories mentioned above work together even if there may be some conflicts between them. [...]

[...] Ehrmann, Politics in France (United States: Little, Brown & Company, 1983) p.96 Yves Mény and Andrew Knapp, Government and Politics in Western Europe (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998) p.36-37 Peter Humphreys, Lecture Notes / Study Pack, (2006-2007) p.36 M. Clark, Modern Italy 1871-1995(London 1996) p.332 William Carr, A History of Germany (London, 1968) p.304-305 Giovanni Sartori, Typology of Party Systems”, p Peter Humphreys, Lecture Notes / Study Pack (2006-2007) p.44 Arend Lijphart, Democracies, Pattern of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries, (1984) p.57 Henry W. [...]

[...] That's why, to have a better understanding of the political instability in France, Germany and Italy, we must use Sartori's theory which deals with the party system. This existence of ‘polarized multi-party systems' within Western Europe prevented coalition governments from forming, and would often mean that governments lasted no longer than a year, as shown within the Italian nation. In Italy, twenty-eight governments were led by twelve prime ministers between 1945 and 1970.[10] In Germany, the ‘existence of a multiparty system, inherited from the Wilhelmian years, made the task of creating a viable democracy difficult.'[11] The existence of anti-system parties was similarly present throughout France, Germany and Italy, presenting the countries with bilateral oppositions, and ultimately preventing consensus due to forcing the competition of the party system into a centrifugal nature.[12] ‘Centrifugal' drives, which prevail over ‘centripetal drive' in the electorate, are characterized, in Sartori's words, by the enfeeblement of the centre and by a persistent loss of votes to one of the extremes (or even to both).[13] The electoral system of proportional representation accentuated the political instability. [...]

[...] As explained in Almond's theory, these types of cleavages are more likely to occur in the pre-industrial world, as they don't have the institutional framework designed to cope with these sub-cultures within society. Countries such as the USA or the UK appear more stable because they contain elements which provide stability within a region; they embrace pluralism, and have a high degree of differentiation. The Weimar Republic had virtually no experience of democratic rule; indeed Germany had been ruled by Emperors for almost fifty years. [...]