Paths to power and ministers’ durability: the Portuguese case

This research work is an inquiry into whether paths to power matter for the survival of ministers. Four different paths to ministerial positions are defined: ‘Parliamentary’, ‘Party’, ‘Public Service’ and ‘Independent’. The theoretical perspective is based on both the ex-ante informational asymmetry and the moral hazard problem. A rigorous survival analysis was developed for the Portuguese case, and the main conclusion is that ministers who have attained power through the ‘Party’ path last longer in government than ‘Parliamentary’ ones.