Abstract
This chapter assesses changes in prime ministers’ career experiences across European countries and between the European regions. The empirical investigation finds that prime ministers’ political experience in positions such as member of national parliament and/or cabinet and/or party leader has declined over the past decades, albeit with regional variations. The same holds true for their duration in these political offices. The technical experiences of prime ministers, in turn, show some increase relative to their political experiences. Although the proportion of prime ministers with former experience in private enterprises, interest groups, state bureaucracies, and international organizations has increased moderately, these background characteristics remain less important than experiences gained in national political institutions and political parties for a successful prime ministerial career. In sum, our analysis confirms that the career experiences of European prime ministers have become moderately ‘less political’ and ‘more technical’.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Exceptions are Godmanis (Latvia), Oresharski (Bulgaria), Prodi (Italy), Tarand and Vähi (Estonia), and Vagnorius (Lithuania), who entered office without party affiliation, after being independent members of parliament. Overall, at the time of investiture, 24 prime ministers with no party affiliation had some experiences in cabinet and/or parliament.
- 2.
We count apical positions in general, including heads, CEOs, and executive board members.
- 3.
This finding is in line with the research on technocratic ministers in the Mediterranean countries by Costa Pinto et al. (2018), according to whom non-partisan appointments of cabinet members have recently increased in South European executives.
- 4.
See the Appendix for the criteria of his inclusion in the universe of analyzed prime ministers.
- 5.
Five West European countries joined the European Union or one of its former forms since the very beginning (Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and West Germany in 1951); three (Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom) in 1973; three (Austria, Finland, Sweden) in 1995, Greece in 1981, while Portugal and Spain in 1986. Eight Central-East European countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) became member states in 2004; two (Bulgaria and Romania) in 2007; and one (Croatia) in 2013. All prime ministers from Norway are excluded because the country has never been an EU member.
References
Bakema, W. E., & Secker, I. P. (1988). Ministerial Expertise and the Dutch Case. European Journal of Political Research, 16(2), 153–170.
Baturo, A., & Elkink, J. A. (2021). What Countries Select More Experienced Leaders? The PolEx Measure of Political Experience. British Journal of Political Science.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123421000107
Blondel, J. (1980). World Leaders: Heads of Government in the Postwar Period. SAGE.
Blondel, J. (1985). Government Ministers in the Contemporary World. SAGE.
Blondel, J. (1991). Introduction. In J. Blondel & J.-L. Thiébault (Eds.), The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe (pp. 1–4). Macmillan.
Bright, J., Döring, H., & Little, C. (2015). Ministerial Importance and Survival in Government: Tough at the Top? West European Politics, 38(3), 441–464.
Costa Pinto, A., Cotta, M., & Tavares de Almeida, P. (Eds.). (2018). Technocratic Ministers and Political Leadership in European Democracies. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cotta, M. (2018). Technocratic Government Versus Party Government? Non-Partisan Ministers and the Changing Parameters of Political Leadership in European Democracies. In A. Costa Pinto, M. Cotta, & P. Tavares de Almeida (Eds.), Technocratic Ministers and Political Leadership in European Democracies (pp. 267–288). Palgrave Macmillan.
De Winter, L. (1991). Parliamentary and Party Pathways to the Cabinet. In J. Blondel & J.-L. Thiébault (Eds.), The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe (pp. 44–69). Macmillan.
De Winter, L. (1993). The Links between Cabinet and Parties and Cabinet Decision-Making. In J. Blondel & F. Müller-Rommel (Eds.), Governing Together. The Extent and Limits of Joint Decision-Making in Western European Cabinets (pp. 153–178). Macmillan.
Fischer, J., Dowding, K., & Dumont, P. (2012). The Duration and Durability of Cabinet Ministers. International Political Science Review, 33(5), 505–519.
Grotz, F., Müller-Rommel, F., Berz, J., Kroeber, C., & Kukec, M. (2021). How Political Careers affect Prime-Ministerial Performance: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. Comparative Political Studies, 54(11), 1907–1938.
Hegele, Y., & Schnabel, J. (2021). Federalism and the Management of the COVID-19 Crisis: Centralisation, Decentralisation and (Non-)Coordination. West European Politics, 44(5–6), 1052–1076.
Helms, L. (2020). Heir Apparent Prime Ministers in Westminster Democracies: Promise and Performance. Government and Opposition, 55(2), 260–283.
Joignant, A. (2011). The Politics of Technopols: Resources, Political Competence and Collective Leadership in Chile, 1990–2010. Journal of Latin American Studies, 43(3), 517–546.
Lavezzolo, S., Ramiro, L., & Fernández-Vázquez, P. (2021). The Will for Reason: Voter Demand for Experts in Office. West European Politics, 44(7), 1506–1531.
Martocchia Diodati, N., & Verzichelli, L. (2017). Changing Patterns of Ministerial Circulation: The Italian Case in a Long-Term Perspective. West European Politics, 40(6), 1352–1372.
Müller, W. C., & Philipp, W. (1991). Prime Ministers and other Government Heads. In J. Blondel & J.-L. Thiébault (Eds.), The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe (pp. 31–43). Macmillan.
Rose, R. (2001). The Prime Minister in a Shrinking World. Polity Press.
Smith, A. (2003). Why European Commissioners Matter. Journal of Common Market Studies, 41(1), 137–155.
Thiébault, J.-L. (1991). The Social Background of Western European Ministers. In J. Blondel & J.-L. Thiébault (Eds.), The Profession of Government Minister in Western Europe (pp. 31–43). Macmillan.
Tronconi, F. (2018). Sub-National Elites. In H. Best & J. Higley (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites (pp. 611–624). Palgrave Macmillan.
Verzichelli, L. (1998). The Parliamentary Elite in Transition. European Journal of Political Research, 34(1), 121–150.
Wille, A. (2012). The Politicization of the EU Commission: Democratic Control and the Dynamics of Executive Selection. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 78(3), 383–402.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Müller-Rommel, F., Vercesi, M., Berz, J. (2022). Changing Career Experiences: Less Political, More Technical. In: Prime Ministers in Europe. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90891-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90891-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-90890-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-90891-1
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)