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Why Are Ministers Important? The State of the Art on Ministers and Cabinets

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Survival of Ministers and Configuration of Cabinets in Chile and Uruguay

Part of the book series: Latin American Societies ((LAS))

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Abstract

The chapter analyzes literary production and research on ministers and cabinets. It is frequently argued that this line of inquiry has gone through various stages or waves of production. In presidential democracies, the phenomenon is relatively new, but it has quickly gained academic notoriety. Research on this issue has encountered three phases: seeing the cabinets as the unilateral expression of the heads of government; seeing in the formation of cabinets, as in parliamentary democracies, various negotiation strategies and political management; and analyzing the ministers, including their trajectory, career, and profile. In this chapter, we will review each of these phases and how research on ministers and cabinets has been adjusted in presidential democracies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The operationalization that Camerlo and Martínez-Gallardo (2018) offer could be an essential starting point for the debate on how to best address variance in ministers’ profiles regarding partisanship, considering that it can go beyond signing up for membership.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Political Science and Public Administration, Temuco Catholic University, Temuco, Chile

    Alejandro Olivares L.

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  1. Alejandro Olivares L.
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Correspondence to Alejandro Olivares L. .

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Olivares L., A. (2022). Why Are Ministers Important? The State of the Art on Ministers and Cabinets. In: Survival of Ministers and Configuration of Cabinets in Chile and Uruguay. Latin American Societies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92802-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92802-5_2

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