This special issue presents an overview of the elections and government formation processes that took place in Southern Europe in 2015-16. It contains ten articles, written by some among the best scholars working on Spain, Greece and Portugal. The first part of the issue examines the elections occurred in 2015 and 2016. The second part of the issue is devoted to the new contenders that changed the competitive arenas in Southern Europe: Podemos and Ciudadanos in Spain; Syriza in Greece and the BE and PCP in Portugal. The first article, by Bosco and Verney, shows how instability, unprecedented events and unexpected outcomes have passed from the electoral arenas to the governmental ones.It remains to be seen whether the destabilising developments that have made the path to incumbency arduous and the risk of government instability high will prove a case of regional exceptionalism or become a manifestation of a more standard European pattern.
