Subnational Policymaking in an Era of Political Instability: Developing a New Typology for Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Political parties and their representatives play a crucial role in policymaking processes. However, increasing electoral volatility and unpredictability in democracies across Europe and beyond have disrupted the once relative stability of both national and subnational politics. This article offers fresh insights into the potential impacts of these transformations on subnational policies within multilevel systems. It challenges the prevailing “stability bias” in existing literature. Through an examination of the links between electoral instability and central–regional interactions, a new typology is developed to facilitate comparative analyses of territorial policy dynamics and their outcomes.