The politics of decabinetisation in Napoleonic systems: a process-tracing analysis

This thesis adresses the deinstitutionalization process of ministerial cabinets (MC) in political systems of Napoleonic administrative tradition (we label this process “decabinetisation”). MC consists of “a staff of personal advisers who are hired when a minister takes office and are not part of the administrative hierarchy” (Walgrave, 2007, p6). They are considered as the most institutionalized organization in which ministerial advisors operate. In political systems of Napoleonic administrative tradition , MC have long been important both in term of size and influence. We are however observing an opposite trend of deinstitutionalization for cabinets in some of those countries (Copernicus Reform in Belgium, Macron’s recent decision to reduce the number of MC members in France). We thus seek to understand better how and why this process is taking place. The study of the Ministerial Cabinet as the most institutionalized form in which Ministerial Advisers operate is also relevant for non-Napoleonic cases. Indeed, it has been argued that we observe a process of cabinetisation in Westminster countries. Thus, analyzing the MC in Napoleonic system also constitute a most likely case study of (dys)function and issues related to the existence of MC in general.