Abstract

Government instability is widely recognised as a distinctive feature of the Italian political system. This topic has traditionally received considerable scholarly attention. In particular, an established body of research has demonstrated that Italian cabinets are among the most short-lived in Europe. This study aims to contribute to the study of this classic matter by exploring patterns of cabinet duration, innovation and termination in Italy in three different phases of the country’s democratic history. By using an original multilevel dataset comprising of information regarding 21 Western parliamentary democracies from 1945 to 2021, the article reveals the existence of different patterns of cabinet instability and ruling instability in Italy, highlighting the critical role played by inter- and intra-party conflicts vis-à-vis cabinet termination in all phases examined.