The selection of ministers in Europe. Hiring and firing

Abstract:
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 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:

- research into the hiring and firing of government ministers
- information on appointments, dismissals and resignations within government cabinets
- constitutional data relating to ministerial selections across a number of European states.

Contents:
1. Structural and Strategic Factors Affecting the Hiring and Firing of Ministers
2. Hiring and Firing Ministers under Informal Constraints: Germany
3. Cabinet Dynamics and Ministerial Careers in the French Fifth Republic
4. Choosing, Moving and Resigning at Westminster
5. Italy: the Difficult Road towards a more Effective Process of Ministerial Selection
6. Cabinet Dynamics in Democratic Spain
7. Ups and Downs of Ministerial Careers in a Partitocratic Federal State
8. Portugal: The Primacy of ‘Independents’
9. In Tranquil Waters: Swedish Cabinet Ministers in the Post-War Era
10. Constructing and Maintaining Irish Governments
11. More Safe than Sound? Cabinet Ministers in Iceland
12. Learning to Rule: Ministerial Careers in Post-Communist Democracies