stability

In the system of democracy currently in place in Israel, Knesset members represent the public. This is indisputable. However, the ties between the public and its representatives are very weak.

The current political instability is the result a breach of accepted rules of the game that are based on assumptions about the nature of politics—and even of human nature.

Israel is about to hold its fifth election in less than four years. With elections taking place every 2.4 years, this places Israel first in the world in terms of frequencies of elections since 1996.

What majority is required to pass a law to dissolve the Knesset on the various readings? After the Knesset is dissolved, how do it and the Government function? What do things look like right now?

As Israel prepares for the dispersal of the Knesset, which will lead to the fifth election in less than four years, CNN's Hadas Gold spoke with Yohanan Plesner to unpack what all this means

A fifth election in three years, is a clear indication that Israel’s worst political crisis did not end when this government was sworn into office.

The unlikely coalition that survived thanks to the one vote has lost the parliamentary majority. Does this mean that the Knesset will disperse and new elections will be held? Dr. Dana Blander explains the different ways in which the Knesset can be dissolved and discusses the relationship between these mechanisms and government stability in a parliamentary system. 

In the wake of the latest political crisis - can a minority government prevent yet another election? 

A government headed by a prime minister who leads small faction in the Knesset - how exceptional is such a scenario and to what extent is it prevalent in parliamentary systems? Prof. Ofer Kenig analyzes examples of parliamentary democracies where the prime minister hails from a small party.

Are the fourth national elections in less than two years due to political chaos or Prime Minister Netanyahu’s legal woes?

How often does Israel hold elections? On average every 2.3 years!

This law, unique to Israel, was meant as an incentive to avoid budgetary deadlock. Today, it sows instability.

Dr. Ofer Kenig, of IDI's Political Reform project, cautiously examines whether the events of the Arab Spring indicate the rise of substantial democracy in the Arab world or whether they merely exchanged one type of authoritarian regime for another—a non-liberal Islamic regime.

Upon the announcement of early elections, IDI researcher Dr. Ofer Kenig reviews the performance of the 18th Knesset and wonders how it will be judged by history.

The Israeli public is increasingly demanding a more effective system of government. In this op-ed from Israel Hayom (February 2, 2012), IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon asserts that reforming the system of government is the only answer to stabilizing the executive so that a party that has been voted into power can actually govern, and points to two types of necessary change: structural and perceptual.

In 2009, IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon established The Forum for Political Reform in Israel in response to "the urgent need to generate significant improvement in the capabilities and functioning of the Knesset." On March 28, 2011, Forum Chairman Meir Shamgar, Former President of the Israeli Supreme Court, submitted the Forum's recommendations to the Knesset. In this video interview, Dr. Carmon speaks about the Forum, its key recommendations, and obstacles to political reform in Israel. 

Dr. Jesse Ferris places the upheavals in Egypt in historical perspective and argues that Israel should not be so quick to dismiss the chance, however slim, of more open government for its Arab neighbors. 

IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon, one of Israel's foremost experts on political reform, sums up the Israeli political scene at the end of the first decade of the third millennium in an article that was published in collaboration with Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

In an article by Dan Pine originally published in J.Weekly on November 5, 2009, IDI President Dr. Arye Carmon describes Israel's internal domestic developments as its greatest existential threats and stresses the urgent need for political reform.

Israeli law calls for general elections every four years. However, recent Israeli governments have not survived a full term in office. In light of the 2009 elections, IDI Researcher Dr. Ofer Kenig, Knowledge Manager for the Israel Democracy Institute's website, explores the implications of frequent elections on the stability of Israeli democracy government.