Political executives have been at the centre of public and scholarly attention long before the inception of modern political science. In the contemporary world, political executives have come to dominate the political stage in many democratic and autocratic regimes. The Oxford Handbook of Political Executives marks the definitive reference work in this field. Edited and written by a team of word-class scholars, it combines substantive stocktaking with setting new agendas for the next generation of political executive research.

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).