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August 3, 2026GovernanceOpen Access

Senior Bureaucrats, Coalitions and the Quality of Government: Accounting for Effective Governance in Fragmented Settings

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Authors

ABAndré BorgesAMArnaldo Mauerberg

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Overview

This article explores how senior bureaucrats and governance structures impact effective government performance in democracies.

Key Points

  • To investigate how cabinet fragmentation influences government performance based on bureaucratic structures and senior civil service recruitment rules.
  • Utilized data from the Quality of Government Expert Survey across 89 democracies
  • Analyzed the interaction between cabinet fragmentation, bureaucratic politicization, and career systems.
  • Evaluated effects of different bureaucratic career structures on governance outcomes.
  • Fragmentation intensifies negative impacts of politicized senior appointments.
  • Limited evidence that fragmentation lowers government quality under high politicization.
  • Factors supporting internal recruitment and long-term careers lead to more effective governance in fragmented cabinets.

Cite This Study

Borges et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a70403e75942ff7265e503bhttps://doi.org/10.1111/gove.70148
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