A cabinet reshuffle is any change in the membership of a government ministry in the course of its lifetime. Reshuffles are most common in parliamentary systems where ministers must be approved by a separate legislative body, but they can also occur in presidential systems and coalition governments.
While there is a tradition of political observers making a point to assess the impact of reshuffles, few scholars have approached them systematically. This special collection seeks to fill that gap.
It examines the motivations for a prime minister to reshuffle and the effects of the reshuffle on the policy agenda. It draws on the work of a number of prominent political scientists.
The primary motivation for a prime minister to reshuffle is to maintain power, in particular by winning elections and by fending off internal party rivals that could threaten the authority of their position. It is often difficult to do either of these without the use of reshuffles. Reshuffles are therefore frequently used to replace, demote, or reassign ministers in order to remove those who are seen as potential challengers to the authority of the prime minister or their party (Berlinski et al. 2012).
The most powerful prime ministers can – ceteris paribus – have a considerable influence on the direction of policy by having a larger share of their cabinet under their control. However, excessive reshuffles can have damaging consequences for policy-making and government effectiveness. Regular ministerial churn can undermine the development of expertise in departments and it can also make it harder for parliament to hold a cabinet accountable for its policies. Furthermore, if the prime minister sends a critical rival to the backbenches they may be empowered to openly criticise the government and can damage the PM’s image.
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