Cabinet members representing party ideology: The impact of portfolio allocation on the perceptions of left-right positions.

The left-right dimension is often considered to be a super-issue which averages the positions across a range of policy issues. The weight of the various issues depends on context and their respective salience. Recent research suggests, that party leaders can strategically impact the perceived left-right position of their parties by changing their selective emphasis on certain issues. I suggest that party leaders have an additional tool. Instead of changing policy positions or selective emphasis, the party’s ideological image can be altered the specific configuration and portfolio allocation of coalition governments. If a given cabinet minister belongs to a party, this means that the party has a more direct influence on the issue and that a representative of the party frequently communicates the party’s issue position publicly. By controlling a portfolio, the party will automatically become the face of the government policy. In short, obtaining a specific portfolio is equivalent to a strong emphasis on the related issue. I hypothesize that the perceived left/right position will represent the issues that the party are responsible for. The empirical analysis relies on panel survey data from the AUTNES (in-depth case study of the two most recent coalitions in Austria) as well as manifesto and expert survey data (large N model). An additional contribution of this project is an updated and extended version of Strom et al (2008)’s ministerial appointment data.