Survival of Ministers and Configuration of Cabinets in Chile and Uruguay (Latin American Societies)

This book develops an analysis of ministerial recruitment in the process of government formation, the process of dismissal, and survival of cabinet ministers in Chile and Uruguay. The two cases are countries that, generally, score the highest democracy indexes in Latin America, but also, they are considered as the most stable presidential systems in the Southern Cone of the region, allowing readers to compare within and between cases. The cases analyzed in this book are small countries with a similar history of democratic breakdowns which, in temporal terms, enable comparison. Additionally, given the reasons that triggered those processes, both cases are normally studied together. For pre-coup democracy, the cases include the governments of Chile between 1933 and 1973 and Uruguay between 1943 and 1973. This research does not analyze the military coup regime in either country. Thus, the period is resumed in the democratic transitions for both cases, i.e., 1985 for Uruguay and1990 for Chile. Although literature on ministerial cabinets survival usually focus on parliamentary regimes from the Global North, this rather new phenomenon in presidential democracies has quickly gained academic notoriety. Research on cabinets and ministers in Latin American presidential systems tends to focus on the periods beginning with the return to democracy after the 1980s. This situation means that there is scant knowledge of the period prior to the coups. By presenting an in-depth study of two presidential systems from the Global South, Survival of Ministers and Configuration of Cabinets in Chile and Uruguay, will be a useful resource for political and social scientists willing to study cabinet formation and ministerial turnover in Latin America, whether is on case-study research or in a comparative perspective. Survival of Ministers and Configuration of Cabinets in Chile and Uruguay Copyright Acknowledgments Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 The Book’s Analytical Proposition 1.2 Chile and Uruguay: Two Case Studies of Ministers and Cabinets 1.3 The Unit of Analysis: Ministers 1.4 How to Measure the Survival of Ministers in Cabinets? 1.5 Working Hypothesis 1.6 Book Plan References Chapter 2: Why Are Ministers Important? The State of the Art on Ministers and Cabinets 2.1 Cabinet Formation 2.2 Studies Based on Ministers’ Attributes 2.3 The Processes of Ministers’ Departure and Cabinet Dissolution References Chapter 3: Cabinet Formation in Uruguay 3.1 Cabinet Formation in Uruguayan Democracy 1942–1973 3.2 From Neo-Batllism to the End of Liberal Governments 3.2.1 Cabinets During the Collegiate Executive 3.2.2 Cabinets in the New Executive 3.3 Cabinets After the Military Regime 3.4 Some Elements of the Uruguayan Dictatorship 3.5 From the National Unity Cabinets to the Frente Amplio 3.6 Uruguayan Ministers and Cabinets from a Global Perspective References Chapter 4: Cabinet Formation in Chile 4.1 History of the Political System 4.2 Cabinets Under the 1925 Constitution 4.3 Cabinets in Periods of Transformation 4.4 Cabinets After the Military Regime 4.5 From the Cabinets of the Concertación to Piñera 4.6 General Balance: Cabinets and Ministries in Chile References Chapter 5: Analysis of Ministers’ Survival in Chile and Uruguay 5.1 The Survival of Ministers 5.2 Their Age and Gender of Ministers 5.3 Ministers’ Professions 5.4 Ministers’ Party Membership 5.5 Family Capital 5.6 Survival Analysis References Chapter 6: Final Remarks: Survival of Ministers and Configuration of Cabinets 6.1 Chile and Uruguay: Differences and Similitudes in Cabinet Formation 6.2 Ministerial Survival: Hypothesis Evaluation 6.3 Concluding Remarks References Index Thus, the period is resumed in the democratic transitions for both cases, i.e., 1985 for Uruguay and 1990 for Chile. Although literature on ministerial cabinets survival usually focus on parliamentary regimes from the Global North, this rather new phenomenon in presidential democracies has quickly gained academic notoriety.