Intra-Party Diversity and Ministerial Selection in Coalition Governments. A Comparative Analysis of Four Western European Countries

Hanna Bäck, Marc Debus, Wolfgang Claudius Müller

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

This study focuses on the allocation of politicians to cabinet offices in different
institutional settings. We argue that cabinet ministers are appointed with the aim of minimizing the policy distance to the most important principal, which could be the Prime Minister, the coalition, or the individual parties that form the coalition. We advance this field of research by performing a comparative analysis of different coalition systems. We evaluate our hypotheses by estimating the policy positions of Austrian, German and Swedish politicians on the basis of a computerized content analysis of their speeches given in parliament. The results provide support for our argument and show that the policy distance towards the dominant principal is important for becoming a cabinet member.
Translated title of the contributionInnerparteilicher Konflikt und Ministerauswahl in Koalitionsregierungen. Eine vergleichende Analyse von vier westeuropäischen Staaten
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)355–378
JournalPublic Choice
Volume166
Early online dateApr 2016
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 506001 General theory of the state

Keywords

  • intra-party politics
  • coalitions
  • recruitment
  • appointments
  • ministers
  • automated text analysis

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