A cabinet reshuffle is when the prime minister (or premier) changes which politicians hold which government roles. The prime minister (or premier) is the person from whom the head of state will take advice on how to exercise executive power, such as declaring war or using nuclear weapons. The cabinet is a group of politicians who are in charge of different departments, for example education, health and transport. Ministers can be moved between portfolios to reward people or get rid of people who are not doing a good job. They can also be changed when a minister retires or resigns, moves to another country or is fired (demoted).
Cabinet reshuffles are important because they can change patterns of descriptive and symbolic representation and influence how governments operate. They can also affect political, economic and social outcomes. However, it is hard to find much evidence that reshuffles have major positive effects.
The reason for this is that there are a lot of factors that influence whether and when a cabinet reshuffle takes place. For instance, reshuffles are less likely to happen in systems where members of the cabinet are drawn from parliament rather than being selected through party primaries. This is because there is a larger pool of viable candidates to choose from. In addition, excessive ministerial churn can hurt the efficiency of government by making it difficult for ministers to acquire the administrative and policy expertise needed to run their department and hold their rivals accountable, especially in sectors that are heavily reliant on departmental guidance. It can also create the impression that a government is unstable, damaging its reputation among voters, donors and fellow MPs.
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