GAMBLING AT HIGH STAKES: THE ALLOCATION OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE PORTFOLIOS IN COALITION GOVERNMENTS. CASE STUDY ON POST-COMMUNIST ROMANIA
GAMBLING AT HIGH STAKES: THE ALLOCATION OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE PORTFOLIOS IN COALITION GOVERNMENTS. CASE STUDY ON POST-COMMUNIST ROMANIA

Summary/Abstract: The literature on portfolio allocation generally recognizes proportionality as the norm for distributing cabinet seats in coalition governments. However, more recent studies have been increasingly concerned with the value or salience of different ministerial portfolios, as an access to explaining deviations from the proportionality norm. Although significant progress has been made in the study of coalition governments and portfolio allocation in Eastern Europe, there is still a gap between the data and research available for this region, compared to Western Europe. The article aims to fill a part of this gap by conducting a case study on portfolio allocation in post-communist Romania, particularly focused on the preference for defense and foreign affairs portfolios. Thus, I study the data from 22 coalition governments in Romania, between 1992 and 2020. The article examines the assertion that, while proportionality remains the norm for Romanian coalition governments, the second most important coalition partner is regularly rewarded with either the defense or foreign affairs ministry. In the end, I explore new opportunities for further research based on the findings, and future contributions to the debate on the allocation of foreign affairs and defense portfolios in Eastern Europe.

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