Technocratic Ministers and Political Leadership in European Democracies

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the ‘technocratic shift’ in ministerial recruitment, measuring its extent and variations over time in fourteen European countries. It addresses the question: who governs in European democratic regimes? Just a few decades ago, the answer would have been straightforward: party-men and (fewer) party-women. More recently, however, and in varying degrees across Europe, a greater proportion of non-politicians or experts have been recruited to government, as exemplified by the 2017 election of Emmanuel Macron to the French Presidency. These experts, frequently labelled “technocrats”, increasingly occupy key executive positions and have emerged as powerful actors in the decision-making process. This edited collection explores the contemporary debates surrounding the relationship between technocracy, democracy and political leadership, and will appeal to scholars and advanced students interested in these fields. 

1. Beyond Party Government? Technocratic trends in society and in the executive; António Costa Pinto, Maurizio Cotta and Pedro Tavares de Almeida.- 2. Non-Partisan Ministers under the French Fifth Republic (1959-2013); Marie-Hélène Bruère and Daniel Gaxie.- 3. No More Political Insiders? Ministerial selection in Sweden during the post-WWII period; Hanna Back and Thomas Persson.- 4. Shades of Technocracy. The varying use of non-partisan ministers in Italy; Luca Verzichelli and Maurizio Cotta.- 5. The Primacy of Experts? Non-partisan ministers in Portuguese democracy; António Costa Pinto and Pedro Tavares de Almeida.- 6. The Selection and Deselection of Technocratic Ministers in Democratic Spain; Juan Rodríguez Teruel and Miguel Jerez.- 7. Recruitment and Careers of Ministers in Central Eastern Europe and Baltic Countries; Elena Semenova.- 8. Variations in the Expert Ministerial Frameworkin Hungary and Romania: Personal and institutional explanations; Gabriella Ilonszki and Laurentiu Stefan.- 9. Turkey’s Ministerial Elites: The growing importance of technical expertise; Sabri Sayari and Hasret Dikici Bilgin.- 10. Technocratic government versus party government? Non-partisan ministers and the changing parameters of political leadership in European democracies; Maurizio Cotta.