Scandal, Protection, and Recovery in the Cabinet

Empirical evidence suggests that a prime minister benefits from firing ministers who are involved in political scandals. We explore a model in which scandals are positively related to policy activism, so that a prime minister may wish to protect a minister from resignation calls. We find that protec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American political science review 2007-02, Vol.101 (1), p.63-77
Main Authors: DEWAN, TORUN, MYATT, DAVID P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Cabinet
Careers
Credibility
Economic models
Government cabinets
Incentives
Income effect
Liberal democracy
Peer Acceptance
Policy analysis
Policy Making
Political activism
Political behavior
Political campaigns
Political culture
Political influence
Political parties
Political science
Political sociology
Political systems
Politicians
Politics
Prime Ministers
Public opinion
Public policy
Resignations
Scandals
Strikes
Temptation
United Kingdom
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Empirical evidence suggests that a prime minister benefits from firing ministers who are involved in political scandals. We explore a model in which scandals are positively related to policy activism, so that a prime minister may wish to protect a minister from resignation calls. We find that protection can sometimes discourage activism: it enhances the value of a minister's career and hence encourages him to “sit tight” by moderating his activities. On the other hand, an exogenous increase in exposure to scandals may lead a minister to “live for today” by pursuing controversial policies. The prime minister's ability to protect ministers is limited by her short-term incentive to fire. She may, however, enhance her credibility by building a collective reputation with the cabinet; the heterogeneity of cabinet membership plays an important role.
ISSN:0003-0554
1537-5943
DOI:10.1017/S0003055407070025