Israel’s unstable democracy in comparative perspective

This article raises the question whether Israel is a stable or an unstable democracy. Its conclusion–based on a theoretical analysis that relates to variables such as the legitimacy of the regime, its effectiveness, the degree of general consensus it enjoys in society at large and amongst the elites, its party system and polarisation, its socioeconomic structure, the centrality of security issues, its constitutional structure and electoral system, and the international environment–is that it is unstable. The article’s approach is comparative and relates Israel to historical case studies, like post-World War I Weimar Germany, Italy, Britain and the US; post-World War II Germany, France, Italy, and Spain; the newly democratic states of Eastern Europe; and the Third World.