Politicians, experts or both? Democratic delegation and junior ministers in Spain

This article aims at contributing to a better understanding of the role of junior ministers (JMs) in contemporary parliamentary governments. Using principal–agent theory, we attempt to shed light on the content of the delegation relationship between JMs and their principals, mainly cabinet ministers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta politica 2016-10, Vol.51 (4), p.492-516
Main Authors: Real-Dato, José, Rodríguez-Teruel, Juan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Building management
Cabinet
Cabinets
Comparative Politics
Delegation
European Politics
Experts
Legislative bodies
Management
Ministers (Political)
Original Article
Patronage
Political parties
Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International Studies
Politicians
Politicization
Prime ministers
Principal components analysis
Principals
Public officials
Recruitment
Skills
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Summary:This article aims at contributing to a better understanding of the role of junior ministers (JMs) in contemporary parliamentary governments. Using principal–agent theory, we attempt to shed light on the content of the delegation relationship between JMs and their principals, mainly cabinet ministers and the prime minister. By applying categorical principal components analysis, we examine recruitment patterns in order to clarify whether JMs tend to focus on policy outputs, party building or political projection and management. The analysis employs data on all the Spanish Secretarios de Estado (SEs) from the creation of the office in 1977 until 2010. The results suggest that delegation to SEs mostly emphasizes policy outputs, since expertise dominates as a recruitment feature, though political skills and party connections are also valued complementary assets.
ISSN:0001-6810
1741-1416
DOI:10.1057/ap.2016.6