Government ministers in the contemporary world

by Blondel, Jean

"Ministerial careers and the structure of ministerial careers have been largely neglected areas of study in political science. This third volume of Jean Blondel's comparative study of governments is the first book to explore this important area by examining the similarities and differences among government ministers of the world since 1945. Governments have grown in scope, and spread geographically, to the point where a new phenomenon has emerged -- rule by a political class of ministers regarded as the main instruments of change. Yet ministerial careers and the structure of ministerial careers have been largely neglected areas of study in political science. Jean Blondel's new book is a major, comparative study of the world's government ministers since 1945, which examines both their similarities and differences. Party structures, legislative behaviour, even bureaucratic arrangements vary from country to country, but the nature of the job and the status of ministers is largely uniform,