Government Survival in Parliamentary Democracies

Thisbookdescribestheresultsofaquantitativeinvestigationintooneofthecentralquestionsofpoliticalscience:whatdetermineshowlonggovernmentssurviveinparliamentarydemocracies?Governmentsurvivalisimportantbecauseitconstitutesanessentialcomponentoftheoverallfunctioningofparliamentarydemocracies;itisalsocloselyassociatedwiththeintroductiontothedisciplineofeventhistoryanalysis,ahighlypromisingstatisticalmethodology.Theinvestigationutilizesthismethodologyonwhatisundoubtedlythemostcomprehensivedatasetyetassembledongovernments,comprisinghundredsofvariablesmeasuredforgovernmentsinsixteenWestEuropeanparliamentarydemocraciesovertheentirepost-warperiodto1989.Theresultsfundamentallychallengethecentralthreadoftheorizingongovernmentsurvivalandpointtoanalternativeconceptualizationoftherelationshipamonggovernments,partiesandvoters.