In democratic European countries snap elections are nothing out of the ordinary – they occur everywhere and at all times. However, if we consider specific examples, such as Poland or Germany, we will see that early elections do take place there, but only rarely do they happen on an annual basis.
The common wisdom on national parliaments is that they are reluctant to dissolve because MPs are unwilling to lose their positions and influence, especially those who do not stand a chance of being re-elected.
As a result, the dissolution of parliament and snap elections must be based on constitutional law. The two most important conditions for the above are: the inability to adopt a budget or the ruling coalition’s inability to maintain a majority in parliament.
In most cases, however, parliaments are not disbanded in order to speed up changes in society or influence voter behavior. Rather, they reflect changes that have already taken place in the political life of the country. Early elections have to bring some benefit or else they lose their raison d’etre.
Unfortunately, the European electorate does not like voting. European countries suffer from low voter turnouts during elections, and a 50-percent turnout rate is considered fairly high. If voters are asked to express their political sympathies too often and they do not see that their votes can change something, they will turn their backs on politics and become disinclined to participate in the election process. It goes without saying that a minority that makes choices for the majority is not the best manifestation of democracy.
Last but not least, even if early elections run their normal course, in European countries they typically stall parliamentary activity for several months. During the election campaign and immediately after the elections, parliament is not the place to pass laws. Some European countries are affected by these kinds of parliamentary vacations to a greater or lesser extent, but the main question is who can really afford this.
