Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 04/2011

Designing Cabinets: Presidential Politics and Cabinet Instability in Latin America

Cecilia Martinez-Gallardo

January 2011

The Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies

Abstract

This paper proposes and tests a theory about the strategic use of cabinet appointments by executives in presidential systems. The theory argues that cabinet turnover plays a crucial role in bargaining between the legislature and the executive over policy. In the context of fixed terms, the power to change the cabinet allows presidents to face unexpected shocks and use cabinet rotation to adjust their governments to new political and policy environments. This resource is even more important when presidents’ formal authority is weaker and when their political support and popularity decrease. I use data on cabinet changes in twelve Latin American countries between 1982 and 2003 to test the main arguments of the theory.