Legislative Support and Cabinet Portfolio Reallocations in Presidential Regimes

• In Event: Comparative Studies on Executive-Legislative Interactions

Abstract

Cabinet proportionality, or the level of correspondence between a party’s representation in the cabinet and in the legislature, is a key indicator of the relationship between the president and the legislature in presidential regimes. However, research into the determinants of this variable has been limited. The aim of this paper is to improve our understanding of this metric. Employing an original dataset of the partisan affiliation of legislators and government ministers in Brazil, we test multiple hypotheses regarding the level of cabinet proportionality. We find that presidents increase cabinet proportionality when their legislative support is low. However, this effect is conditional upon the level of public approval presidents receive. When presidents receive high approval from the public, legislative support has no effect on cabinet proportionality. High presidential approval ratings are associated with lesser cabinet proportionality. The size of the president’s party in the legislature is positively associated, highlighting the special status of the formateur in presidential government coalitions.

Authors

• Taeko Hiroi, The University of Texas at El Paso

• James Langford, The University of Texas at El Paso