Understanding individual preferences over political appointees: Evidence from a conjoint experiment

Political appointments matter for the functioning of democracy. Although previous research has discussed political appointments from the institutional perspective, little scholarly attention has been paid to understanding individual preferences for political appointees. Utilizing a conjoint experiment in Taiwan, this study finds that individuals tend to favor the selection of candidates who exhibit professional competence, maintain a non-partisan stance and have strong ties to the local community when considering individuals for political appointments within the region. In addition, there is little evidence for the interactions between the candidate’s attributes and the respondent’s political characteristics to drive individual choices of political appointees. The results imply that political leaders should prioritize attributes such as professional competence, non-partisanship and strong local ties when making political appointments. Overall, this study represents one of the few efforts to examine public attitudes towards political appointments and provides insights into individual inclinations regarding political appointees.