Ideologues, Partisans, and Loyalists

Under what conditions can cabinet ministers affect the government’s policy agenda? Existing literature provides conflicting answers to this question. In this article, I show that some politicians are more likely than others to influence policy. Specifically, I consider three types of ministers: loyalists, who are loyal to their party leader and prioritize office over policy; partisans, who are party heavyweights and aspiring leaders; and ideologues, who have fixed policy ideas and are unwilling to compromise over office perks. I argue that ideologues and partisans will affect policy more than loyalists do. Using a novel data set on ministerial backgrounds, and examining the area of social welfare policy in 18 countries, I find support for my theoretical expectations.