Cabinet reshuffles occur when a Prime Minister promotes or demotes ministers or relocates their portfolios. They can be relatively minor – for example, replacing a minister who has resigned or lost support from the backbench – or transformative – with entire departments being created and abolished. They are one of the most common and visible aspects of a government’s operations and can have far-reaching policy implications. Reshuffles are also highly significant for the government itself, because it is only with repeated experiences that ministers can develop administrative and policy expertise in their departmental roles. Frequent reshuffles, however, can damage the cabinet’s credibility by creating the impression among voters, donors, and party members that a government is in constant turmoil.
The articles featured in this special collection draw on a range of theoretical and empirical approaches to examine the ubiquity, complexity, and impact of cabinet reshuffles. They aim to overcome the key weaknesses in the international literature, which are a lack of systematic comparison across countries and regimes and a notional and empirical bias towards Westminster democracies. This collection therefore makes an important contribution to the study of executive politics and governance.
The discussion moved on to consider the purpose of reshuffles. Hilary Armstrong argued that they are an essential tool for party management, as they decide which MPs from the legislature will become ministers and provide crucial control over who from the backbenches becomes the executive. Tim Montgomerie put this in context, arguing that reshuffles are a way of promoting high-performing ministers and removing those who are not performing well. However, he pointed out that using reshuffles to exercise party discipline can backfire as it releases critical rivals from collective cabinet responsibility and enables them to criticise the government openly.
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