Over the years, I’ve heard of those events in many countries, even in democratic Western countries. Why did they happen so casually and regularly, although they sound like something that only happens in a chaotic, anarchic dystopia.
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Many countries have a system where the head of government is elected by the parliament.
This means that the prime minister, premier or chancellor or whatever the head of government is called has a majority of the parliament behind them. It prevents such things like the one often happening in the US where the President can’t really do much because the tow houses of the parliament aren’t fully behind him.
In practice it meant that all the horse trading and haggling just happens at the beginning of the term when the members of parliament have to figure out who is supported by a majority among themselves. Mostly this happens by two or more parties forming a coalition.
It also means that if at any point in the term that majority falls apart and enough people no longer support the current government they can vote to kick the governmnt out. Usually this is called a vote of no confidence or similar. the exact mechanics vary from system to system.
In some system the current government can only be voted out if there is a replacement that has the support of a majority in other it is enough if a majority doesn’t support the current candidate. sometimes it means that the parliament itself has to be reelected.
At some point if the current parliament can’t agree on a government no matter what the head of state may decide to call for new elections in hopes of getting a parliament that can do abetter job.
Sometimes the current head of government can call for a new parliamentary election to, if they think it would help them.
There is usually some sort of balance of power between the parliament, the government and its head and the head of state, where the head of state is the one who formally dissolves the government or parliaments. This power is often just something that exist in theory and on paper and as long as they don’t actually try to use it on their own especially if said head of state is some unelected monarch.
Details vary widely between countries.
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