Measures of Cabinet Durability

Abstract

The measurement of cabinet durability depends on the events that are considered to end the life of a cabinet, such as a change in the parties composing it, a change in its coalitional status, a change of prime minister, a cabinet resignation, or a parliamentary election. Seven such events used in the literature are critically reviewed in this article. The five most important measures are then correlated with each other and with the three independent variables (one-party versus coalition cabinets, minimal winning versus oversized coalitions, and the number of parties in the party system) that are frequently used to explain cabinet durability. All five measures turn out to be closely related to each other and all are basically acceptable, but the simplest measure - based solely on changes in the party composition of the cabinet - yields the best results.