The Lure of Technocrats: A Conjoint Experiment on Preferences for Technocratic Ministers in Six European Countries

Abstract

The aim of this research is to gauge public support for ministers who did not follow a typical "career politician" pathway prior to their nomination (i.e., those who never held an elected office and are not affiliated to a political party) and to understand what drives this support. We use a web-based conjoint experiment fielded in six European countries, in which respondents are presented with pairs of vignettes describing the profile of hypothetical ministers and must state which of the two candidates they would personally prefer. The task is repeated five times, once for the Prime Minister office and once for four specialized minister positions. We find that attributes associated with technocratic government almost always increase popular support for ministers. These preferences are stable across policy domains and are as prevalent in the case of the PM as in the case of specialized ministries. However, we identify substantial cross-country variations: pro-technocratic attitudes are more prevalent in Italy, Poland and Spain than in the UK and Germany.