Comparative models: The executive branches Flashcards
What will shape the approach of both presidents and PMs
Their personality
What style of government did Trump adopt?
An aggresive one, firing cabinet members and advisors frequenlty
What reflected his self centred style of leadership?
The way he constructed and announced policy
How was Obama more collegiate?
He had a close relationship with his VP and he worked closely with House speaker Pelosi to formulate and pass healthcare reform
How did Thatcher’s personality affect the way she governed?
She liked to dominate policy initiatives and didn’t always listen to advice (e.g. the poll tax)
How were Cameron and Major more collegiate?
They preferred to work with their inner cabinets to create policy
What does the individual PM and president do?
Do what they think is the most sensible thing and do what is in their best interests
What will they both have?
Pet projects that will dominate legislation as it is important to them
What were Clinton and Obama both passionate about?
Healthcare
What was Bush passionate about?
Education and national security
What was Trump passionate about?
Building a wall to keep out illegal immigrants
What was Blair determined the UK should do?
Fight a war on terror
What did Cameron decide on?
The desirability of an EU referendum
What was Johnson focused on?
Brexit
What did Blair sacrifice in his conviction to doing what he saw as the right thing?
Personal popularity
What will both of them rationally decide?
Who to appoint to key positions
While will the PM want potential rivals in cabinet?
So they will be bound by collective security, nullifying them as a threat
What are they rationally deciding here?
To have an enemy they dislike in cabinet to prevent them from doing damage
How did Obama have rational judgements too when appointing judges?
He wanted to appoint liberal judges and increase diversity on the SC, these were key factors in his appointments of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan
What was Trump’s priority in appointments?
The conservative stance of his appointees and this was the rationale behind his appointment of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett
What do both the president and the PM do in terms of appointments?
Make the appointment that they feel will give them the biggest advantage
What is the cultural history of both nations important for understanding?
The actions of the PM and president and the extent of their accountability to their respective legislatures
How do the origins of the role of PM and president differ?
The role of president originates from the creation of the nation whereas the role of PM has gradually evolved over time
When is the title of PM considered to have been first used?
Posthumously about Robert Watpole, who acted as First Lord of the Treasury between 1721-42
What does US political culture and tradition give to the president?
A respect and idealisation that the PM does not receive
What might be the structural explanation for this?
Because the president is the head of state whereas the PM is not
What is the cultural explanation for this?
The romanticisation of the American dream and the idea that anyone could grow up to become president
How has party polarisation changed this special status for the president?
The broad respect they used to enjoy from supporters of both parties has turned into a narrower partisan respect
What does this change resemble?
UK culture
What are there cultural expectations about in both countries?
The extent of the powers of both PM and president
What is culturally frowned upon for both PMs and presidents?
When they transcend the limitations of their role
What have critics in the media and academia argued against in both countries
Imperial presidency or prime ministerial government
Give two presidents who acted in an imperial way?
LBJ and Nixon
Give two examples of PMs who showed prime ministerial tendencies
Thatcher and Blair
What are cultural expectations of what the role should be about just as important as?
Structural expectations
How is collective responsibility an important cultural norm?
PMs who are seen to ignore it will face opposition and criticism, like Thatcher
How are the roles of PM and president similar in terms of elections?
They are both the individual focus of the electoral system, even in the UK where the PM is indirectly elected
What will the public do in times of crisis?
Turn to the PM or president
Give some examples of this
Post 9/11 when Bush and Blair assumed this role and during COVID with Trump and Johnson
What culture has developed around the media that is significant to the PM and president
They give a great deal of weight to their views and opinions, which can serve to both inflate and deflate their prestige
Why is it easier for the president to convey the message of the executive than the PM?
Because the PM’s cabinet is more prominent than the president’s
What have both presidents and PMs begun to do to convey their message in recent years?
They have used social media to deliver their message to the electorate
What does the mass media’s cultural fixation on then allow the PM and president to do?
Hog the limelight and bask in the credit
What is the downside of this cultural norm for the PM and president?
There will often be trial by media, where both PM and president will be hounded when things are seen as not going well
Give an example of this happening to Johnson
He faced severe criticism for his COVID policies as well as the extraordinary media outrage that accompanied the revelation that his close personal advisor Dominic Cummings broke lockdown rules
How did this happen to Trump?
He was hounded over the media over a succession of scandals from unsuitable appointments and alleged collusion with Russia through to criticism that he underestimated the severity of COVID
What differences are particularly wide ranging between the two executives?
The structural ones
I’ll describe a feature of the office of the president and you say how the PM is structurally different
!!
All executive power is vested in the president
Executive power is divided between the monarch, the PM and the cabinet. The PM and their cabinet form a plural executive where the PM is described as the first among equals, though in practise they are more than that
The president is elected by the people. The president gains the title of party leader only once they are president, and this means little in practise
The PM is indirectly elected; the PM gains office only because they are the leader of the largest party in the commons and is the de facto leader of the house
They can serve for a maximum of 8 years
There are no term limits
The office of the presidency is the product of revolution, the war of independence and the constitutional convention that followed
The role of PM has evolved over time the war of independence and the constitutional convention that followed
The president is entirely separate from the legislature and often has never been a member of it
The PM also has to be an MP
Explain how the architecture shows the difference between the two roles
The WH is more imposing than 10 Downing Street and the WH residence, where the president and their family live, is far more spacious than the 3rd floor flat in No. 10, which is so cramped that some PMs have moved into the slightly bigger one in No. 11.
How does their office space show the difference between the two roles?
The president has the Oval Office, the West Wing and the 566 room Eisenhower Executive Office Building, compared with the very limited space for PMs. The PM is usually pictured working in the cabinet room - which says as much about collegiality as the Oval office does about individuality
What do the structural differences between prime ministerial and presidential government lead to?
Distinct differences in the behaviour of both systems
What does the fusion of powers mean for the PM?
They must be an MP and will usually lead to a commons majority which allows them to be more dominant in passing legislation
What does the separation of powers mean for the president?
That they cannot be a member of congress
What does this structural rule mean for the president?
That it is more difficult to pass legislation
What is the best example of how this structural difference makes life difficult?
Passing budgets
Explain this
In the UK, the budget will be determined by the PM and chancellor and will pass through parliament because the government has a working majority. A president will have to bargain and negotiate, especially during times of divided government. This has led to numerous government shutdowns in recent years, but this never happens in the UK
How does the separation of powers limit the president?
Because it prevents them from imposing their will upon congress than the PM, who can enforce their will upon parliament due to controlling a majority
What is the important caveat when talking about this power for the PM?
If the PM has a small or no majority then they will resemble a president during divided government
Give small example of PM’s who have suffered due to lacking a healthy majority
Wilson, Callaghan, May and Johnson before the 2019 GE
What has the structural difference of the singular executive in the US and cabinet government in the UK led to?
Significant differences in the behaviour of PMs and presidents
Explain how the US cabinet is weak
They have far less status and members are not a rival to the president. The cabinet meets at the whim of the president and is rivalled by EXOP as a policy making unit. The president treats cabinet members like subordinates, and cabinet members show deference to the president. Meetings are often seen as quite unimportant and are used by the president to touch base with the administration
Explain how the UK cabinet is different
PMs have to appoint their rivals. Good PMs will include important PMs in decision making. Although the PM dominates cabinet meetings, they should expect cabinet members to sometimes argue with them and block their decisions. The cabinet expects to meet regularly and be included in decision making, especially if they are senior ministers. If the cabinet loses faith in the PM it can lead to their resignation - this could not happen in the US because the cabinet is far less structurally important
Give some examples of PMs having their decisions blocked by their cabinet
Brown made it politically impossible for Blair to join the euro, May’s cabinet was fractured by Brexit debate and would not back her strategies or policies
Give some PMs who had to resign because they lost the faith of their cabinet
May and Thatcher
What is the main consequence of the structural difference between cabinets for the PM and president
The position of president is much more secure
What else causes different behaviour between the PM and president?
The administrative support they receive
What does the president have at their disposal to coordinate policy?
EXOP, cabinet and a chief of staff
What is the consequence of this for EXOP and the cabinet?
There is a rivalry between them for access to the president’s policy initiatives
How can the president deal with this due to their structural dominance?
The can utilise this administrative support how they see fit
Compare the administrative support received by the PM
Their policy unit is a fraction of the size of EXOP. The structural importance of the cabinte means that the PM cannot use this policy unit to dictate policy unilaterally as a president might
