Kinder and gentler ministers in consensus democracies? Personality and the selection of government members

Abstract

This study examines the personality traits of candidates for the Swiss government and how they are related to the candidates’ electoral chances. Switzerland as a paradigmatic consensual democracy is an ideal test case to examine the connection between the specific pattern of a democracy and the government personalities that fit it. We argue that the cultural and institutional setting of the Swiss Government increases the electoral chances of kinder and gentler personalities. To test this, we estimate regression models on a new data set of candidates covering all vacancies in the Swiss government between 1982 and 2020. Our results reveal that candidates with a higher level of agreeableness do enjoy an advantage in the electoral process for Swiss consensus government.