ABSTRACT
In modern democracies, most ministers have strong party and political credentials. However, in certain circumstances, parties select individuals with no previous political experience for cabinet positions. In most of the cases, these individuals display relevant expertise in a specific field that allegedly makes them suitable for a ministerial portfolio. Such ministers are known to the public as technocrats, in a nod to their expertise, which seems to be the source of their power. This chapter explores the circumstances in which Romanian governing parties bring technocrats onto the cabinet benches. It also looks more closely at their ministerial careers in order to understand whether they are generally considered second-class ministers or not. Unsurprisingly, most of the technocrats have started their public careers as deputy ministers. Another expected finding is that the level of educational attainment is higher in the case of technocrats than in the case of party-affiliated ministers.
