Patronage and politicization in the Napoleonic cabinets ministériels

This chapter examines the link between the Napoleonic cabinets ministriels, patronage, and politicization. Are these offices the products of patronage, and to what extent do they themselves produce patronage appointments? Are Napoleonic ministerial cabinets producers of politicization, and if so, of which types? Do they converge towards specific trends when it comes to patronage and politicization, or are there significant divergences, and what are they? Looking at previous research on cabinets in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, the chapter argues that Napoleonic cabinets were not historically created for patronage reasons; however, their members are mostly patronage recruits, and as institutions, they do facilitate formal politicization despite not having a constitutional mandate to do so. The picture is much more nuanced and differentiated across jurisdictions when it comes to other forms of politicization: administrative, functional, and policy contestability. More systematic empirical research is needed to unravel the story of cabinets and politicization.