The fall of the Tory party

a nation of clowns. ... That’s how everyone is looking at us now isn’t it?

Italy, the first example that came to mind, is infamous for short lived governments. I don't generally think of your average Italian as a clown. But it does perhaps give other countries an iffy sense that power doesn't really sit in the elected bodies, that the country instead is run elsewhere by elites, networks and interest groups without a democratic mandate.