This volume discusses the formation of government cabinets within twenty European democracies, providing the institutional background to the selection and de-selection of ministers. Exploring the historical and constitutional context to cabinet formation, this volume proceeds to provide vital data on the strategic issues that affect the selection of ministers. Covering states from all over Europe, the authors examine trends from the post-war period up to the present day, with specific focus on recent decades for the newer democracies in political transition. The volume includes: pioneering new research into the hiring and firing of government ministers vital information on appointments, dismissals and resignations within government cabinets succinct constitutional data relating to ministerial selections across a number of European states The book is the first output of the Selection and De-selection of Political Elites international network of scholars (SEDEPE) and will provide a major source of information for all scholars interested in the formation, maintenance and termination of cabinets and the nature of ministerial government. The Selection of Ministers in Europe. Hiring and Firing will also be of broader interest to students of European Government and Political Institutions.

This volume examines, through a series of case studies of countries with differing institutional and cultural structures, the process of selection, shuffling and removal of ministers in national cabinets since 1945.

Even though the question of 'who governs' has been at the centre of political science research for a long time, a systematic comparative analysis of the profiles of prime ministers in Europe was missing. This data rich volume allows to put prime ministerial figures into perspective. Scholars will welcome the inspiring arguments on the careers of top executives. -Patrick Dumont - Professor of Political Science, Australian National University, Canberra. This is a formidable contribution to the study of prime ministers. Building on a unique database, this book shows that the nature of prime ministerial leadership has been drifting towards a more assertive role of chief executives vis-à-vis their own parties. It shows that the control of political parties over the process of government has been declining while political leaders have gained political weight. -Thomas Poguntke - Professor of Comparative Politics, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany This book presents the first comparative analysis of European prime ministerial careers. It is the result of an ambitious data collection effort and presents significant cross-temporal and cross-national changes in the experience that prime ministers bring to the highest office. The book will, without doubt, become a key reference work for the study of executive careers. -Petra Schleiter - Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Oxford, UK This book examines the changes in the career experiences and profiles of 350 European prime ministers in 26 European democracies from 1945 to 2020. It builds on a theoretical framework, which claims that the decline of party government along with the increase of populism, technocracy, and the presidentialization of politics have influenced the careers of prime ministers over the past 70 years. The findings show that prime ministers' career experiences became less political and more technical. Moreover, their career profiles shifted from a traditional type of 'party-agent' to a new type of 'party-principal'. These changes affected the recruitment of executive elites and their political representation in European democracies, albeit with different intensity and speed. Ferdinand Müller-Rommel - Professor (Emeritus) of Comparative Politics at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany. Michelangelo Vercesi - Lecturer in Comparative Politics at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany. Jan Berz - Assistant Professor of Political Science at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

The Council of Ministers provides a comprehensive analysis of the Council of Ministers: how it works, its varied activities, functions, and its relationships with the other key EU institutions and the member states. It is a key legislative institution which lies at the fulcrum of decision-making in the European Union.

The Council of Ministers is one of the most powerful institutions of the European Union (EU) and plays a major role in the European policy-making process. Drawing on formal theory and combining quantitative and qualitative methods in an innovative fashion, this book provides novel insights into the role of national bureaucrats in legislative decision-making of the Council of the EU. The book examines and describes the Council of Ministers' committee system and its internal decision-making process. Relying on a wide quantitative dataset as well as six detailed case studies in the policy areas of Agriculture, Environment, and Taxation, it provides a comprehensive and systematic assessment of the extent to which national bureaucrats act as law-makers in the Council. It also examines the degree to which theories on collective decision-making, delegation, and international socialization can account for variation in the involvement of bureaucrats. Investigating how often and why national officials in working parties and committees, rather than ministers, make legislative decisions in the EU, this book addresses the implications of bureaucratic influence for the democratic legitimacy of Council decision-making. The author finds that ministers play a generally more important role in legislative decision-making than often assumed, alleviating, to some extent, concerns about the democratic legitimacy of Council decisions. Bureaucrats as Law-Makers will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners in the field of European Union politics and policy-making, legislative decision-making, intergovernmental negotiations and international socialization.

The Oxford Handbook of the European Union brings together numerous acknowledged specialists in their field to provide a comprehensive and clear assessment of the nature, evolution, workings, and impact of European integration.

Governing cabinets are composed of ministers who come and go even as governments march on. They work for the chief executive, the prime minister or the president, for their parties and for the constituent groups from which they come. They are chosen for their role and dismissed from it for all sorts of reasons that vary across time and country. This book examines the process of selection, shuffling and removal of ministers in national cabinets around the world. Drawing on original data over several decades, it offers a series of case studies of countries from around the world with differing institutional and cultural structures including presidential and semi-presidential systems, and parliamentary, unitary and federal systems, some of which have experienced periods under authoritarian regimes. Featuring 14 case studies on North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, this book complements the earlier volume The Selection of Ministers in Europe (Routledge, 2009). This volume will be an important reference for students and scholars of political science, government, executives, comparative politics and political parties.