The Selection and Deselection of Technocratic Ministers in Democratic Spain

Abstract

This chapter analyses the presence of non-political ministers in the Spanish cabinet in the democratic period since 1977, where one out of five ministers did not belong to the ruling party at the time of her appointment and one out of three can be considered as a non-political minister. By observing the selection and deselection of these individuals, it shows the cabinet dynamic behind the ministerial appointments and the differences between the more political type of ministers and those coming from outside political pathways. Despite some outstanding exceptions, non-political ministers are often recruited from outside the parliament and have fewer chances to develop a relevant ministerial career, staying in the cabinet shorter than political ministers. Similarly, they are more likely to leave the cabinet due to a general reshuffle or to an electoral defeat than to intra-cabinet conflicts or problems arising with parties. In the end, the significant amount of non-political ministers reflect the strong ‘presidential’ tendency of Spanish politics, with the predominance of the prime minister in and out of the cabinet, and the influence of the multi-level dynamics of the political system in the ministerial recruitment.