Title: Robustness of the Government and the Parliament, and Legislative Procedures in Europe

Authors: Chiara De Micheli (University of Sassari), Vito Fragnelli (University of Eastern Piedmont)

Abstract: 
The Constitutions of some European democracies, namely United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy, allow for different procedures for approving  the laws. Usually, the non-standard procedures are motivated by necessity and /or urgency. In this paper we analyze their "strength'' correlating their higher or lower use with the "strength'' of the government and of the Parliament, measured through two parameters, the governability and the fragmentation.