From old to new institutionalism

The question of the parliamentary origin of ministers highlights the distinctive features of neo-institutionalism in contrast to traditional studies of political rules. A diachronic analysis of the French case reveals that the formal rule of incompatibility between ministerial and parliamentary positions can be circumvented through the gradual modification of the rule, while maintaining parliament as the primary source of ministerial recruitment. Furthermore, in line with Thomas Saalfeld’s pioneering approach to a potential trade-off between ex-ante and ex-post oversight, the issue of the parliamentary background of ministers is incorporated into a macro-level analysis of the delegation process between parliament and the government. Examining the evolution of the French political system over several decades reveals indeed that a deficit in contract design and screening is offset by more rigorous parliamentary monitoring of the government.