This volume investigates how economic and political crises in Southern Europe have disrupted traditional party systems and altered the dynamics of government formation. The authors, Anna Bosco and Susannah Verney, utilize a comparative framework to analyze the emergence of new political contenders in countries such as Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. By examining electoral data and coalition-building processes, the text argues that these crises have fundamentally shifted the established patterns of governance in the region.

Scholars in the field of European studies identify this work as a significant contribution to understanding the volatility of contemporary Southern European politics. The text is frequently cited for its rigorous empirical approach to mapping the decline of long-standing party dominance.