Ministerial turnover in the German Länder (1991–2010)

This article examines ministerial turnover in the cabinets of the German Länder by analyzing the determinants of the length of ministerial tenure in the respective governments. The analysis draws on a newly compiled dataset that comprises all cabinets of the sixteen German Länder from 1991 to 2010. Survival analysis shows that aggregate factors describing the (institutional) political setting, such as the type of government (coalition), as well as the parliamentary strength of the government parties influence the hazard for ministerial turnover, while the ideological distance between coalition partners does not show a significant effect. In addition, several individual characteristics of the ministers are of relevance. For example, regional rootedness increases the time period in office. Other socio-demographic characteristics such as gender or holding a PhD do not have any effect.