Ministers and Unions: The Selection and Survival of Ministers with Union Backgrounds and its Effects on Social Policy Reform

Abstract

The literature on ministerial selection and survival has only recently begun to study how background factors of ministers themselves determine their appointment and how long they stay in office. Previously, the focus was rather placed on the strategic action of Prime Ministers, using cabinet reshuffles to respond to falling government popularity or to increase the competence among the ministers. More recently, a new focus on background factors has, however, emerged. Scholars have, for example, studied the selection of cabinet ministers with technocratic backgrounds, as opposed to career politicians, or the appointment of female cabinet ministers. However, with very few exceptions, ministers’ background in the labour movement has not been considered, neither with regard to issues of selection and survival, nor as a determinant of social policy reform. The panel seeks to address those gaps in the literature by inviting papers that either discuss the selection and survival of cabinet ministers with union background or examines its effects on social policy reform, or both.

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