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The purpose of this course is to use a case study methodology to assess how even established democratic societies can rapidly become politically unstable. Again and again, we see nations that are regarded as successful and prosperous democracies descending into acute political turmoil. There is no one model to explain why such swift turnarounds in national fortunes occur (and nor could there ever be one), but by using the case study approach we can identify factors (ideological polarization, defective electoral systems, poor leadership, mistaken macroeconomic policy, constitutional paralysis, class or ethnic conflict, external shocks) that were capable of undermining stability. The presumption of this course, indeed, is that the management even of consolidated democratic societies is a constant struggle against the forces that tend to political dissolution. To this end, the course will examine democratic theory, constitutional law and two important case studies: Great Britain 1970-1979 and Italy 1979-1996.