THE PROFESSION OF GOVERNMENT MINISTER IN WESTERN EUROPE Also by Jean Blondel ·CABINETS IN WESTERN EUROPE (editor with Ferdinand Muller-Rommel) COMPARATIVE LEGISLATURES COMPARATIVE POLITICS (editor) COMPARING POLITICAL SYSTEMS CONSTITUENCY POLmCS (with F. Bealey and P. McCann) THE DISCIPLINE OF POLITICS GOVERNMENT MINISTERS IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD THE GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT THE ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENTS POLITICAL LEADERSHIP POLITICAL PARTIES PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN FRANCE (with F. Ridley) THINKING POLITICALLY VOTERS, PARTIES AND LEADERS WORLD LEADERS • Also published by St. Palgrave Macmillan The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe Edited by Jean Blondel Professor of Political Science, European University Institute, Florence, Italy and Jean-Louis Thiebault Maftre de Conferences in Political Science, University of Lille-II, France Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-1-349-11397-2 ISBN 978-1-349-11395-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-11395-8 © Jean Blonde1 and Jean-Louis Thi6bault 1991 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1991 978-0-333-52048-2 All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 First published in the United States of America in 1991 ISBN 978-0-312-05373-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Profession of government minister in Western Europe / edited by Jean Blondel and Jean-Louis Thi6bault. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-05373-4 1. Cabinet officers-Europe. 2. Cabinet system-Europe. 3. Comparative government. I. Blonde1, Jean, 1929- II. Thi6bault, Jean-Louis JN94.A63P76 1991 351.007'4'094-dc20 90-8935 CIP Contents List of Figures vi List of Tables vii Preface x Notes on the Contributors xii 1 Introduction Jean Blondel and Jean-Louis Thiebault 1 2 Cabinet Government and Cabinet Ministers Jean Blondel 5 3 The Social Background of Western European Ministers Jean-Louis Thiebault 19 4 Local and Regional Politics and Cabinet Membership Jean-Louis Thiebault 31 5 Parliamentary and Party Pathways to the Cabinet Lieven de Winter 44 6 The Ministerial Career Wilma E. Bakerna 70 7 Ministers and Ministries Hans Kernan 99 8 Elite Circulation in Cabinet Government Andre Paul Frognier 119 9 Prime Ministers and other Government Heads Wolfgang C. Muller and Wilfried Philipp 136 10 The Post-Ministerial Careers Jean Blondel 153 11 Conclusion Maurizio Cotta 174 Appendix I 199 Appendix II 201 Bibliography 203 Index 209 v List of Figures 6.1 Average duration of ministerial office and average durability of cabinets, 1945-80 78 8.1 Countries and ministerial durations 123 8.2 Main types of 'cores' and 'crowns' in cabinet 127 VI List of Tables 3.1 Cabinet ministers by gender and by country 25 3.2 Cabinet ministers at the time of their first appointment 26 3.3 Educational background of cabinet ministers by country 26 3.4 The three main occupational groups of cabinet ministers on becoming MP or minister (by country) 27 4.1 Cabinet ministers in local or regional politics before joining the government 33 4.2 Cabinet ministers in local politics before joining the government 36 4.3 Cabinet ministers in regional politics before joining the government 37 5.1 Parliamentary and party background by country 48 5.2 Overrepresentation of types of ministers by professional background 55 5.3 Overrepresent at ion of types of ministers by ministries 62 5.4 Overrepresentation of types of ministers by first ministry 65 5.5 Circulation between ministries by parliamentary and party background 66 6.1 Average age of incoming and departing ministers, 1945-84 71 6.2 Duration of ministers in office, 1945-84 75 6.3 Party fragmentation and ministerial duration, 1945-80 81 6.4 Type of government and ministerial duration, 1945-80 82 6.5 Continuity and comeback; the incidence of interrupted ministerial careers, 1945-84 84 6.6 Ministerial backgrounds and career interruptions, 1945-84 85 6.7 Career interruptions and changes of party in cabinets, 1945-84 87 6.8 The mobility of ministers through posts, 1945-84 90 6.9 Average duration in office of one-post and mobile ministers, 1945-84 92 Vll viii List of Tables 6.10 Mobility through posts and average duration in office, 1945-84 93 6.11 Career continuity and mobility through posts, 1945-84 94 7.1 Party control and dominance of policy sectors 102 7.2 Party families and the 'colonisation' of ministries by sector 104 7.3A Original occupations of incoming ministers by policy sector 108 7.3B Occupations prior to becoming ministers by policy sector 109 7.4A Original occupation, minister with sectoral distribution of ministries 111 7.4B Occupation of incoming minister by ministry 112 7.5 Degree of persistence and mobility by countries 115 7.6 Incoming ministers with persistence and mobility 116 7.7 Occupational status prior to becoming a minister with persistence and mobility 116 8.1 Ministerial duration and cabinet duration (1945-84) 120 8.2 Ministers of one year or less and ten years or more 122 8.3 Ministers having lasted ten years or more: number of interruptions and number of posts 125 8.4 Level of education and occupation of short- and long-duration ministers 131 8.5 Party affiliation, parliamentary origin, function as party official among short- and long-duration ministers 132 8.6 Long-duration ministers, party affiliation, parliamentary origin and function as party official 133 9.1 Duration of heads of government 137 9.2 Heads of government with policy potential 138 9.3 Occupations of heads of government 141 9.4 Previous experience in parties, interest groups, or representative bodies 141 9.5 Age distribution of incoming cabinet members 143 9.6 The most important departments in which heads of governments served 144 9.7 Selected first and last occupations of heads of government 147 10.1 Circumstances of departure of ministers 159 List of Tables ix 10.2 Proportion of oldest and youngest departing ministers by country 162 10.3 Outgoing ministers returning to Parliament 164 10.4 Outgoing ministers and executive positions at the regional and local levels 167 10.5 Outgoing ministers and return to previous occupations 168 10.6 New careers of outgoing ministers 171 11.1 Political background of ministers 181 11.2 Bureaucratic background of ministers 182 11.3 Affiliation of ministers with interest groups 187 11.4 Length of ministerial service and political and bureaucratic background 193 Preface This book is the result of a collective effort aimed at understanding better the varied characteristics of cabinet government: for cabinet government is not one, but diverse across Western Europe, with the various models seemingly designed to meet different needs and different expectations of both citizens and politicians. In such an inquiry, the ministerial profession deserves a special place, in view of what it reveals about the nature of political life in the countries concerned. We obviously want to know who the rulers are, what were their origins, and what have been the careers of the two thousand cabinet ministers who have presided over Western Europe's development in the course of the last four decades - a small number when contrasted with the 300 million or more citizens of the countries concerned, and yet a number which means that, on aver­ age, each government member remains in office no more than four or five years. A study of cabinet ministers is also revealing about deeper aspects of the political traditions of each nation. Not only do ministers last in office longer in some countries than in others, but the origins and the peculiarities of the ministerial career can be very diverse. They lead in particular to a distinction between amateurs and specialists which can have a significant impact on the operation of the political system. A review of the profession of cabinet minister in Western Europe is thus a window on many political cultures. This study is the result of a collective effort extending beyond the contributions appearing in this volume. We have been fortunate in receiving the support of colleagues from all Western European countries: we are particularly grateful to B. Farrell, F. Miiller­ Rommel, and 1. Nousianen, as well as to their colleagues in their respective institutions. We also wish to thank all those at the Euro­ pean University Institute in Florence who contributed to the collec­ tion of the large data base which needed to be assembled: we are particularly grateful to C. Gardiner, who played a major part in organising the technical aspects of the operation, to R. Danziger, who patiently provided computer advice throughout, as well as to E. Breivik, L. Morel, and B. Verbeek, who were at various points engaged in building the data file. We wish to record formally our thanks to the European University Institute, without whose generous x Preface xi financial help this study would not have been possible. We wish to thank T. Farmiloe and his colleagues at Macmillan for their support and for their confidence. We hope that this confidence will not have been in vain and that this volume will indeed throw light on who our rulers are while providing lessons which will be of value for those who wish to improve the working of national governments across Western Europe. Jean Blondel Jean-Louis Thiebault Florence, Italy Lille, France Notes on the Contributors Wilma E. Bakema is Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Leiden. Jean Blondel is Professor of Political Science at the European Univer­ sity Institute, Florence, Italy. Maurizio Cotta is Professor of Political Science at the University of Siena, Italy. Lieven de Winter is Assistant in the Department of Political Science at the University of Louvain-Ia-Neuve, Belgium.