ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some concluding thoughts on the topics discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explains the result of research at the intersection of two research agendas: political survival and ministerial careers. Ministers are important because they are agents of the leader. Ministerial careers provide a lens to explore stability and political change. Delegation gives ministers an opportunity to demonstrate competence and loyalty, although in some cases ministers will display only one or the other based on the leader's incentives to stay in office and on how these incentives are shaped by political institutions. The book estimates a bivariate probit model of the joint probability of leader and minister change. It explores the joint probability of minister and leader deposition, conditional on their respective times in office and other covariates. Other researchers of cabinets opted for obtaining ministerial data for geographical regions or countries over long periods of time.
