ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the principles of ministerial recruitment in 13 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are examined. The most striking result is that approximately half of all ministers recruited to CEE cabinets between 1991 and 2011 had no political experience, and most of them were non-partisan. This finding contradicts the Western European practice of party dominance over cabinet positions. In this chapter, the supply and demand reasons for the selection of outsider ministers as well as the trajectories of their cabinet and post-cabinet careers are examined. It shows that the increased recruitment of outsider ministers to CEE cabinets is primarily generated by the demand side—the presidents, the prime ministers, and (to some extent) parties—rather than by the supply side (outsider candidates).
