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Politics Paper 2 > Executive > Flashcards

Executive Flashcards

1
Q

What is the structure of the executive?

A

PM > Cabinet > Government Departments > Executive Agencies

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2
Q

What is the role of the PM?

A
  • head of executive
  • chairs cabinet
  • manages cabinet agenda
  • appoints all members of cabinet and junior ministers
  • organises structure of government (e.g. can create, abolish, merge departments)
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3
Q

What is the role of the Cabinet?

A
  • consists of 20 to 23 senior ministers
  • administrative support and help in delivering policy
  • many decisions taken in cabinet committees which deal with particular areas of policy such as economic affairs and national security
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4
Q

What is the role of government departments?

A
  • each one responsible for an area of police e.g. Ministry of Defence, Department for Transport
  • each headed by a cabinet minister
  • supported by several junior ministers
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5
Q

What is the role of executive agencies?

A
  • semi independent bodies that carry out some functions of government departments
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6
Q

Give an example of an executive agency

A

DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) is overseen by the Department for Transport

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7
Q

What are the main roles of the executive?

A
  • proposing legislation
  • proposing the budget
  • making policy decisions
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8
Q

Explain the role of proposing legislation

A
  • executive introduces proposals for new laws or amendments to existing laws
  • has the power to introduce legislation to contend with emergencies
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9
Q

When does the executive announce its a new programme?

A

at the start of each parliamentary session in the Queen’s speech

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10
Q

Who does the executive interact with before proposing legislation?

A

ministers will often consult interested parties, such as pressure groups and professional bodies
we can use the example of the legalisation of same sex marriage and the 12 week consultation period

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11
Q

What was outlined in the 2015 Queen’s Speech by the Conservative Cameron Government?

A
  • an in/out referendum on membership of the EU
  • measures in devolved bodies would be taken only with the consent of MPs from those parts
  • legislation to protect essential public services against strikes
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12
Q

What is a ‘doctor’s mandate’?

A

when a emergency occurs, such as the threat of terrorism, the executive has the power to introduce legislation to contend with it
just as a doctor would respond to a patient’s illness

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13
Q

How does the public react to the ‘doctor’s mandate’?

A

the public expect resolute action even if the situation that occurred was not referred to in a manifesto

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14
Q

Explain the role of proposing the budget

A

government needs to raise revenue to fund public services and to meet its spending priorities

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15
Q

Who creates the budget?

A

the chancellor of the exchequer in consultation with the PM and is then revealed to the rest of the Cabinet shortly before it is delivered

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16
Q

What is the budget?

A

an annual statement of the governments plans for changed to taxation and public spending

17
Q

Explain the role of making policy decisions

A

the executive needs to decide how to give effect to its aims for the future direction of the country

18
Q

Give examples of the policy decisions taken by the 2010-25 Coalition Government

A

Welfare: streamlining the welfare system by introducing single benefit for working age people (Universal Credit)

Education: allowing parents and voluntary groups to set up ‘free schools’ that are independent of local councils

Healthcare: introducing more competition into the NHS and putting GPs in control of the commissioning of care for patients

19
Q

What are the main powers of the executive?

A
  • royal prerogative powers
  • initiation of legislation and secondary legislation
20
Q

What does royal prerogative powers mean?

A
  • powers that historically belonged to the crown
  • over time these powers transferred to the PM / other ministers
21
Q

What are the main prerogative powers ?

A
  • sign treaties
  • declare war / authorise use of armed forces
  • take action to maintain order in case of emergency
  • grant and withdraw passports
  • grant legal pardons
  • award honours
  • appoint ministers and other senior office holders
22
Q

How have prerogative powers been reformed?

A

since the parliamentary debate on the Iraq War in 2003 and the 2013 debate on air strikes in Syria
Governments have accepted that military action required prior parliamentary approval

23
Q

What tools does the executive have to strengthen its hold over the passage of legislation?

A
  • the guillotine (the allocation of time motion)
  • the programming motion
24
Q

What is ‘the guillotine’?

A

formally known as the ‘allocation of time’ motion
a procedure that allows the government to curtail debate on the individual clauses of a bill

25
Q

Give an example of when the guillotine was attempted

A

Cameron government attempted to use the guillotine in a Lords debate on the redrawing of constituency boundaries
abandoned after opposition in 2011

26
Q

What is the programming motion?

A

enables the executive to set out in advance the time limits for each stage in the passage of a bill

27
Q

What is secondary legislation?

A

a law made without passing a new act of parliament
instead the government uses the powers created by an earlier act

28
Q

What is the most common form of secondary legislation?

A

statutory instruments

29
Q

What is the significance of secondary legislation?

A

enables a government to modify or repeat existing legislation without introducing a new bill

30
Q

What have critics said about the growing use of statutory instruments?

A

opposition politicians and press commentators argued that the government was using this power to sneak changes through the back door

31
Q

What were statutory instruments used to do in 2016?

A
  • abolish maintenance grants for uni students
  • allow fracking in national parks
32
Q

What are ‘Henry VIII clauses’?

A

this is what statutory instruments are sometimes called

33
Q

Why are statutory instruments sometimes called ‘Henry VIII clauses’?

A

because they enable the government to evade parliamentary scrutiny

34
Q

What is the function of the civil service?

A
  • exists to support government agenda
  • advises ministers
  • speaks truth to power
  • manages government effectively
35
Q

What is the nature of the civil service?

A
  • anonymous
  • meant to be impartial / politically neutral
  • specialist knowledge
  • permanent and unelected
36
Q

How do civil servants differ to ministers?

A
  • civil servants are anonymous and impartial
  • civil servants do not have individual/collective responsibility so may not have to resign over a mistake
37
Q

What is the role of Senior Civil Servants?

A
  • departmental administration
  • implementing policy / drawing up legislation
  • policy consultations with interest groups
38
Q

What did David Frost say about the civil service?

A

they were all closeted remaineers

39
Q

What did Harold Wilson say about the civil service?

A

conspiracy theory that civil servants and the BBC were against the Labour party and Wilson

Politics Paper 2 (13 decks)

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