Does one size fit all? An analysis of portfolio allocation in the Brazilian multiparty presidential system

Abstract

Presidents face a dilemma of whom to appoint for cabinet positions. They need to secure legislative support for their government and at the same time achieve their goals in terms of public policy. This work analyzes the portfolio allocation of Brazilian presidents in Brazil’s multiparty system. This study tests some hypotheses using multinomial logistic regression to identify appointment strategies adopted by the presidents in four different governmental sectors from 1990 to 2016. To do so, first, we create an index of ministerial politicization (IMP) and aggregate the ministries in these four sections, employing cluster analysis. The results show that appointments to the core positions in government tend to be less politicized. Moreover, the president’s personal nominations were greater in the presidential units that carry out the political coordination and typical functions of the State.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow - Political Ambition, Coalitions, and Accountability as Determinants of Ministerial Turnover in the Brazilian Multiparty Presidential System

“…More especially, the distinct effect of a minister coming from São Paulo seems interesting, not only because it is the country's richest state, but also due to the fact that the parties whose candidates occupied the presidency during the period under analysis (the PT and the PSDB (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira -Brazilian Social Democracy Party)) were formed in São Paulo state, and the majority of their leaders were of São Paulo provenance. The model also includes the area of government, a variable that separates ministries according to their policy field: core ministries; public policy implementation; political articulation and state functions; and the presidency and minor ministers (PALOTTI and CAVALCANTE, 2018). Two other variables are added to the model to determine their effect on tenure: being a minister from a traditional political family (with relatives in politics); and having a personal relationship with the president.…”

“…The framework of Brazil's political system, so-called 'coalition presidentialism', exerts a powerful influence on the selection and potential dismissal of cabinet members, given that it involves deliberated calculations in a multifaceted environment. The literature on the matter makes it clear that the Chief of the Executive (i.e., the president) must take into consideration the proportionality of party representation in Congress, as well as the representation of social groups and regions (ABRANCHES, 1988;AMORIM NETO, 2006;CODATO and FRANZ, 2018;D'ARAUJO and RIBEIRO, 2018;FIGUEIREDO and LIMONGI, 1999;PALOTTI and CAVALCANTE, 2018). The scenario becomes even more complex and challenging in a multiparty system where there are some thirty parties represented in the Legislative branch and the proportion of seats held by the president's party seldom reaches 20%.…”

“…The combination of perceived political experience and administrative competence can have a mollifying effect on hostile public opinion (CODATO and FRANZ, 2018;D'ARAUJO and RIBEIRO, 2018;PALOTTI and CAVALCANTE, 2018). Relatively speaking, however, the reasons for ministerial resignations and dismissals remain under-investigated.…”

O cálculo do presidente ao nomear ministros no Brasil

“…O número total de indivíduos é menor (419), já que conta como nova observação a nomeação do ministro para outro ministério ou para o mesmo, mas em outro momento. De igual modo, contamos como nova nomeação a manutenção de um ministro quando o presidente é reeleito, conforme fizeram outros pesquisadores (Codato & Franz, 2018;Palotti & Cavalcante, 2018). A ex-presidenta Dilma Rousseff, por exemplo, aparece no banco de dados três vezes: como ministra de Minas e Energia e como chefe da Casa Civil duas vezes, no primeiro e no segundo mandatos de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.…”

Ciências Sociais Hoje: Ciência Política

“…Tomando como referência somente essa segunda década do século XXI, vale citar alguns dos trabalhos que têm produzido significativas evidências sobre a relação dos governos com a coalizão:Baião;Jucá, 2018;Batista, 2017;Inácio;Rezende, 2015;Lopez, 2015; Mauerber Júnior, 2016;Cavalcante, 2018; e Pereira et al, 2017. …”