This Handbook provides definitive reference work on political executives and their key role in political systems. It records the current theoretical and methodological debates and sets the agenda for future research in this prominent and extremely wide-ranging field of research.

Introduction 1: Rudy Andeweg, Robert Elgie, Ludger Helms, Juliet Kaarbo, and Ferdinand Müller-Rommel: The Political Executive Returns: Re-Empowerment and Rediscovery I. Theorizing and Researching Political Executives 2: Matthew Laing and Brendan McCaffrie: Historical Approaches 3: Klaus H. Goetz: New Institutional Approaches to the Study of Political Executives 4: Margaret G. Hermann and Juliet Kaarbo: Psychology and the Study of Political Executives 5: Indridi H. Indridason and Christopher Kam: A Rational Choice Perspective on Political Executives 6: R.A.W. Rhodes and Jack Corbett: Ethnographic Approaches 7: Karen Beckwith: Feminist Approaches to the Study of Political Executives 8: Dennis C. Grube: Constructivist Approaches 9: John Uhr: Ethical Approaches 10: Robert Elgie: Methodology and the Study of the Political Executive II. Composition and Life Cycle of Political Executives 11: Magna Inácio and Mariana Llanos: Presidential Pathways and Profiles 12: Ferdinand Müller-Rommel, Corinna Kröber, and Michelangelo Vercesi: Political Careers of Ministers and Prime Ministers 13: Diana Z. O'Brian and Catherine Reyes-Housholder: Women and the Executive Politics 14: Mark Schafer and Gary Smith: Personalities and Beliefs of Political Executives 15: Petra Schleiter: Government Formation and Termination 16: Hanna Bäck and Royes Carroll: The Distribution of Ministerial Posts in Parliamentary Systems 17: Fortunato Musella: Post-Executive Activities III. Dynamics and Developments Within Political Executives 18: Robert Elgie and Gianluca Passarelli: The Presidentialization of Political Executives 19: David Doyle: Measuring Presidential and Prime-Ministerial Power 20: Robert Elgie: Presidents and Cabinets 21: Paul Chaisty, Nic Cheeseman, and Timothy J. Power: Inside the Coordination Paradigm: New Perspectives on Minority Presidents and Coalition Management 22: Michelangelo Vercesi: Cabinet Decision-Making in Parliamentary Systems 23: Rudy Andeweg: Parties and Executives in Parliamentary Systems 24: Jonathan W. Keller: Leadership Styles of Political Executives 25: Yee-Fui Ng: Political Advisers in the Executive Branch VI. Dynamics and Developments Between Political Executives and the Broader Political Context 26: Tobias Bach and Kai Wegrich: Politicians and Bureaucrats in Executive Government 27: Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon and Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson: Executive-Legislative Relations in Democratic Regimes 28: Georg Vanberg: Judicialization and the Political Executive 29: Donatella Campus: Political Executives and the Mediatization of Politics 30: Direnc Kanol: Interest Groups and Lobbying in Political Executives 31: Pedro C. Magalhaes: Public Opinion and Executive Approval 32: Ludger Helms: Performance and Evaluation of Political Executives V. Political Executives Beyond the Democratic Nation-State 33: Ingeborg Tömmel: Executive Politics in Multi-Level Systems: the EU 34: Jody LaPorte: Political Executives in Autocratic and Hybrid Regimes 35: Anna Sunik: 4. Political Executives in Authoritarian Monarchies 36: Alexander Baturo: 4. Political Executives in Party-Based Dictatorships 37: Natasha Lindstaedt: 4. Political Executives in Military Regimes

Provides the definitive guide on political executives and the current theoretical and methodological debates Sets the agenda for future research in this field Features contributions from leading scholars in this field

Rudy B. Andeweg is Professor of Political Science, Leiden University. His publications include Myth and Reality of the Legitimacy Crisis (edited with C. van Ham, J. Thomassen, and K Aarts, OUP, 2017), and Puzzles of Government Formation (edited with L. de Winter and P. Dumont, Routledge, 2011). Robert Elgie was Paddy Moriarty Professor of Government and International Studies, Dublin City University. His publications include The Politics of Presidential Term Limits (edited with Alexander Baturo, OUP, 2019), and The Oxford Handbook of French Politics (edited with Robert Elgie, Emiliano Grossman, and Amy G. Mazur, OUP, 2016). Ludger Helms is Professor of Political Science, University of Innsbruck. His publications include Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Chancellors (Palgrave, 2005) and Comparative Political Leadership (Palgrave, 2012). Juliet Kaarbo is Professor of Foreign Policy, University of Edinburgh. Her publications include Domestic Role Contestation, Foreign Policy, and International Relations (edited wtih Cristian Cantir, Routledge, 2016) and Coalition Politics and Cabinet Decision Making (University of Michigan Press, 2012). Ferdinand Müller-Rommel is Professor of Comparative Politics, Leuphana University Lüneburg. His publications include Party Politics and Democracy in Europe (edited with Fernando Casal Bértoa, Routledge, 2017), and Party Government in the New Europe (edited with Hans Keman, Routledge, 2014).

Provides the definitive guide on political executives and the current theoretical and methodological debates Sets the agenda for future research in this field Features contributions from leading scholars in this field