Profession Of Government Minister In Western Europe

Despite the apparent political similarities in Western Europe, the models of cabinet government employed by different nations vary. In exploring the ministerial profession, this text reveals the political traditions and the different needs and expectations of citizen and politician alike.

A presentation of the structure and workings of the national cabinets in Western European countries today, based on a common framework which enables the reader to compare their origins, structure, composition and activities. Emphasis is placed on the leadership and on the character of coalitions.

A fully-updated second edition of the presentation of the structure and workings of the national cabinets in Western European countries today. This book is based on a common framework which enables the reader to compare the origins, structure, composition and activities of these cabinets and to draw lessons from this comparison. Emphasis is placed on the leadership and on the character of coalitions. When West European ministers are working ever more closely together, a knowledge of the life of national cabinets is vital as is an understanding of the differences between types of cabinet decision-making in the context of the reforms proposed of Western European governments.

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.

This thoroughly revised and updated second edition of Civil Service Systems in Western Europe presents a comprehensive overview of the important issues in modern bureaucracies and provides a comparative analysis of the civil service systems of various Western European nations.

This volume presents a detailed empirical analysis based on a large cross-national data collection, covering the entire post-war period from 1945 to 1999.