This book examines the contemporary relevance of the concept of the core executive across a range of constitutional contexts, covering examples from Westminster system, continental Europe, and Scandinavia. Much study of core executives focuses exclusively on the Westminster system, but this book expands that scope to take into account nations where coalition government has been the norm for decades. Focusing on the interaction between the political and administrative executives, the book addresses tensions between the two that have become increasingly apparent in an age of populism and mediatisation.

Kristoffer Kolltveit is a professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway. His research interests include political and administrative elites, media impact in the central administration, cabinet decision-making and bureaucracy.

Richard Shaw is Professor of Politics at Massey University, New Zealand. His research interests focus on different facets of the advent of ministerial advisors in parliamentary democracies, and on political-administrative relations in comparative contexts.