This module introduces students to the roles of institutions and individual attributes in shaping ministers' and civil servants' careers and policy influence. The interactions of ministers and civil servants are central to the functioning of democratic political systems, yet these actors have different incentives and career patterns. The module provides students with a grounding in Principal-Agent theory as it is applied to ministerial and civil service careers and to delegation and accountability in democratic systems. It takes a comparative, cross-national perspective, allowing students to become familiar with the institutions and norms that shape these careers in European democracies. In doing so, it broaches issues such as representation, gender balance, generalist and specialist recruitment, technocratic government, and accountability.

Selection: a. ministers; b. civil servants. De-selection: a. ministers; b. civil servants. Ministers and civil servants: interdependence, cooperation, and conflict. Policy influence: a. ministers; b. civil servants. Further career prospects: a. ministers; b. civil servants. Institutional reforms and the core executive. The course is structured around a series of career outcomes: selection, de-selection, and policy influence, as well as career prospects after a spell in office. It examines factors that influence these outcomes, including gender, age, the nature of the individual's past experience (including the special case of civil servants who become ministers), and performance. Informed by the course's cross-national perspective, we consider institutional variations and reforms, in areas such as remuneration, pay-for-performance, gender quotas, term limits, and generalist (or specialist) recruitment. We also look at the minister-civil servant relationship in a more general sense: how do these actors work together effectively? Who is accountable? What are their incentives?

Understand some important similarities and differences among ministerial and civil service careers and the political systems in which they take place; Understand how institutional variation and norms influence these actors' incentives; Source information and data on key aspects of ministerial and civil service careers; Compare aspects of these careers and the factors that influence them; Identify current research puzzles and unresolved problems in the literature.

Take the perspective of a social scientist and develop confidence in that role; Develop an appreciation of the potential of political science to inform decisions on institutional reform.

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Active class sessions, with frequent pair and small-group work (Graduate attribute: Collaborative). Student presentations: these short presentations will be descriptive accounts of individual political systems and will be related to the theme being addressed in a given week (Graduate attribute: Articulate). Term paper development sessions, including peer feedback sessions (Graduate attributes: Creative, Collaborative). 'Workshop' sessions, in which students will have opportunities to develop their knowledge of the sources of data and case-study information available to them (Graduate attributes: Knowledgeable, Creative). Guest speakers, depending on availability. The course is centred on regular reading and participation in class and it places an emphasis on recent research findings and the state of the art across the topics covered (Graduate attribute: Knowledgeable).