This paper focuses on the appointment of non-partisan ministers in Spain, which is a major example of one-party cabinet with highly personalization of executive powers and increasing cabinet dominance over the party. We provide empirical evidence of the fluctuation of minister partisanship over time. Very few cabinets have been formed only by party ministers while others cabinets have had a majority of non-partisan ministers. This is largely contrary to what literature has traditionally argued for parliamentary executives, by opposition to presidential and semi-presidential systems. The aim of the paper is to explain this variation at both cabinet and ministerial levels of analysis. We will pay particular attention to the role played by the party leaders and the prime minister, and whether their strategic preferences and political positions influence the ministerial recruitment process in terms of partisanship. To test this leadership effect, our analysis will control by ministers’ individual features as well as by the specific political and parliamentary context.
