There was a lot of political instability in the western world in the year before July 2017.

Judge as of 2017-07-21, for the period from about July 2016 to July 2017. True: credible sources describe significant political instability or upheaval in Western countries during that period (e.g. the aftermath of the Brexit vote, the 2016 US election and its turmoil, the rise of populist movements, the UK's 2017 hung parliament). Mostly true: there was notable upheaval, but 'instability' overstates it for most Western countries. Mixed: there were real but limited disruptions, and commentators disagree on whether this counts as instability. Mostly false: there were only isolated events, presented as broad instability. False: the period was broadly politically calm in Western democracies.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 2017’s Verdict on European Populism Carnegie Endowment for International Peace · 20 December 2017

   “A year ago, many observers feared that the eruption of populism that contributed to Brexit and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump would continue to spread uncontrollably across Europe.”

2. E2 2017’s Verdict on European Populism Carnegie Endowment for International Peace · 20 December 2017

   “One clear exception to this trend is the surprising gains of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labor Party in the UK’s general snap election in June 2017, where the party won 40 percent of the votes, just shy of the Conservative’s 42.4 percent.”

3. E3 2017’s Verdict on European Populism Carnegie Endowment for International Peace · 20 December 2017

   “However, with the so-called European super-election year now over—following elections in key states such as France, Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands—it is safe to say that the continent weathered the populist challenge better than expected.”

E1, an independent Carnegie analysis, describes an 'eruption of populism' that contributed to Brexit and to Donald Trump's election, and says observers feared it would spread across Europe. That points to significant upheaval in Western politics during the period. E2 reports a surprisingly close result in the UK's June 2017 snap election. E3 adds that continental Europe 'weathered the populist challenge better than expected' in its 2017 elections, which suggests that 'instability' overstates the situation in several Western countries.