What does it mean to topple the government?

In terms of France, it just means the coalition formed in the last election has fallen apart. Serious but there probably will have to be a new election. No looming Reign of Terror.

I think they use those words to stir controversy.
The word “topple” makes people think of a full societal breakdown, as if every waste management employee and banker just stopped going to work, which I doubt is happening.

It’s what happens when a government loses support in parliament and can’t get legislation passed. Usually this can be resolved by a general election but France’s electorate and parliament is split three ways and no one group can form a government without the support of the other two and none seem willing to compromise.

The equivalent in a presidential system would be if the executive and legislative branches of government were unable to cooperate leaving the president effectively powerless.

In an authoritarian system it would require some sort of coup to replace the leadership.

It’s quite serious for France as there is no immediate prospect of a budget being approved to deal with the country’s economic problems and elections aren’t possible until July.

Topple : to (cause to) lose balance and fall down

Thanks for all responses. Sorry if I was unclear. I’m not asking the meaning of the word “topple” or what could cause a government to topple. I’m asking, when a government is toppling, what’s it doing?

It’s metaphorical; there’s no actual building falling over (usually). What is occurring literally? What is actually happening—in cities, on the street, in homes?

If our (U.S.) government were to topple, what would it look like? (As asked in my brief details.)

Anarchy and chaos.

Ok. What I’m looking for is, will utilities stop providing services? Will law enforcement go off duty? Will schools close and supply lines break? Is it like the aftermath of a huge storm or fire? Or is it business as usual except in the halls of government?

@Jeruba In the US I think a lot of life would continue to hum along for a while, but eventually some services would break down. Social Security checks might stop going out, hard to know what exactly would happen.

It really depends on who or what fills the void. Imagine religious fanatics who put in martial law, governing with an army helping to enforce their extremism. I can’t imagine that happening in the US, but certainly there are forces in the country hoping for it.

The libertarians basically want anarchy, that would be horrible and chaos.

When January 6th happened I turned to my husband and said, “imagine if these idiots took over the government.”

@Jeruba As I and @flutherother both indicated it’s different in a parliamentary system than in a system like ours so you really can’t generalize. What I did read about France’s governmental collapse is that they don’t have a budget in place at this time so it may mean that there will shut downs of certain governmental functions. On the other hand, I think that their country is more sane and something will be done fairly quickly.

In the Us, as @JLeslie states, it could be much more chaotic. But there’s no real way to generalize from country to country.

In the US, they would install Martial Law. Or try.

There would likely be a curfew, and other measures in attempts to get things from getting worse.

As an aside, when the Iraqi government was overthrown, Saddam Hussein’s statue was literally toppled.

In Canada, toppling the government is a loss of confidence, (from a majority of Members of Parliament/legislative assembly) , and calls another election.

In the case of the US I would think the stock market would crash. A new government will be formed in its place. (I mean if we actually were toppled). Smaller agencies may continue. Probably something like a furlough will happen where only necessary workers continue to work without pay temporarily. Most things that are paid by consumers, like utilities will continue to run except for maybe in places where its being paid by housing. SS may be stopped for a while. Many private businesses may go out of business so their services may stop. There will be chaos in the streets and martial law will go into effect as looting begins.
The global market will also feel a shock. Insurance companies that make a lot of money by investing will probably go under so, medical claims may not be covered and many people who have insurance but can’t afford to pay out of pocket will go without the medications they need or die.
So, recovery will really come down to how quickly a new government can be installed and how much confidence investors have in the new regime.
Given how volatile our nation is, it can take a while before things are back to normal or near normal. There is also the possibility that our enemies will hit us while our pants are down.