The downfall of the Western Roman Empire by 476 C.E was mainly caused by politics (system of government). The government in the Western Roman Empire was very weak, and without a strong government to control such a large amount of land the Western Roman Empire was lead to their down fall. To rule a lot of land you must be united, aware and prepared, and many of these quality’s come from the government so, when the government was weak the empire became fragile, and everyone was in a state of disarray and with disarray came the Western Roman Empire’s downfall (document 1). Another problem the Empire faced was their leaders being indecisive, the government could not decide on a way to elect the next Emperor; they shifted between different methods,