Who Uses Advisers as Gatekeepers? Insider and Outsider Ministers as Shapers of Procedural Administrative Politicisation

This paper examines how insider ministers (with prior political/governmental experience) and outsider ministers (appointed directly from professional or expert backgrounds) differ in how they structure and use their ministerial offices and how that affects political-administrative relations. Bridging the literature on ministerial recruitment and public administration politicisation, the paper focuses on how advisers act as gatekeepers between ministers and top bureaucrats (procedural administrative politicisation). Empirically, the study employs a qualitative comparative case design of four ministers (two insiders, two outsiders) in the same Portuguese cabinet (2022-2024). For each minister, the analysis combines (i) an original dataset on his cabinet composition and turnover; and (ii) elite interviews with the minister, key political advisers and senior civil servants in their department. This design reveals how differences in ministers’ prior political experience are reflected in the ways ministerial offices are staffed and used vis-à-vis the administration. In doing so, the analysis highlights the mechanisms through which insider and outsider ministers open or close channels to the permanent civil service and discusses the implications for ministerial learning and governing capacity.