The institutionalisation of ministerial advisers in Westminster governments (1970–2019): a systematic review and thematic synthesis

This study is the first systematic review and thematic synthesis of academic research on ministerial advisers across the Westminster model of government. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method, 1,185 articles from 1970-2019 were screened and a final synthesis of 51 relevant publications, covering five countries, were critically analysed. The review critically analyses how scholarly research has defined what is and who are ministerial advisers and, more importantly, empirically identified conditions leading to the institutionalisation of partisan political staff across countries of the Westminster system.status: publishe