There are so many reason why there is political instability! Base on what I've encounter and witness in governments in different countries as i study political science here is a list of some of the larger causes of political instability:
(1) The government is too weak. (Think the Articles of Confederation in US history; think Afghanistan or Somalia for more recent world history., Corruption in countries like Philippines and Africa)
(2) The government is too strong.(Just about any modern dictatorship qualifies in that regard.)
(3) Rival religious, ethnic, or tribal elements within the society. (In the Middle Ages, you could point to the Crusades, or the Protestant Reformation; many of the societies of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia are more recent examples. Specifically, think of the Balkans conflicts of the 1980s & 1990s, or Rwanda in the 1990s, or South Sudan, more recently.)
(4) Resources - either in terms of a general or specific lack, or too much of just one or two major resources. For example, wars over oil are now giving way to wars over water.
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