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Cabinet Reshuffles and Ministerial Drift

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  • INDRIDASON, INDRIDI H.
  • KAM, CHRISTOPHER

Abstract

A model of policy implementation in a parliamentary democracy as delegation between the prime minister and her cabinet ministers is introduced. Cabinet reshuffles can be pursued as a strategy to reduce the agency loss which occurs due to the different preferences of the actors. This work thus explains why prime ministers resort to reshuffles: cabinet reshuffles reduce the moral hazard facing ministers. This answer both augments and distinguishes this work from traditional perspectives on reshuffles that have emphasized the deleterious effects of reshuffles on ministerial capacity, and also from recent work that casts reshuffles as solutions to the adverse-selection problems inherent in cabinet government. The conclusion offers a preliminary test of some of the hypotheses generated by this theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Indridason, Indridi H. & Kam, Christopher, 2008. "Cabinet Reshuffles and Ministerial Drift," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(4), pages 621-656, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:38:y:2008:i:04:p:621-656_00
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    1. repec:gig:joupla:v:6:y:2014:i:2:p:3-38 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Torun Dewan & Andrea Galeotti & Christian Ghiglino & Francesco Squintani, 2015. "Information aggregation and optimal structure of the executive," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59632, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Elena Semenova, 2020. "Expert Ministers in New Democracies: Delegation, Communist Legacies, or Technocratic Populism?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 590-602.
    4. Hanna Bäck & Marc Debus & Wolfgang C. Müller, 2016. "Intra-party diversity and ministerial selection in coalition governments," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 355-378, March.
    5. Torun Dewan & David P. Myatt, 2010. "The Declining Talent Pool of Government," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 267-286, April.
    6. Christopher Li, 2021. "Indirect accountability of political appointees," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 33(3), pages 383-396, July.
    7. Hanna Bäck & Patrick Dumont & Henk Erik Meier & Thomas Persson & Kåre Vernby, 2009. "Does European Integration Lead to a `Presidentialization' of Executive Politics?," European Union Politics, , vol. 10(2), pages 226-252, June.

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