Executive Flashcards
Who is the head of
government? How are
they appointed?
leader of the largest party by convention is given invitation by the King to form a government in their name
What is the Prime
Minister’s Office? What
support does it offer
the PM in No.10?
- success of govt as a whole
- admin support to PM
- Policy advice
- media relations
- political office
What is the Cabinet?
Who does it include?
Who appoints its
members? Why is it
important?
- main collective body of the cabinet
- meets weekly
- 31 in 2025
What are Cabinet
Committees, sub-
committees and inter-
ministerial groups?
sub committees of the cabinet to discuss detailed policy which was less significant to the rest of the cabinet
MAY- European Union Exit and Trade committee
What is the role of
the Cabinet Office?
support work of both offices
organise cabinet
admin support- collective government
What is the ministerial
hierarchy within each
ministerial department?
Secretary of State
ministers
junior ministers
to assist ministers- PPS
What is the role of the
Civil Service? How are
civil servants different
to ministers?
- develop policy
- permanent
- impartial
- acronyms
- accountable to ministers
What are special
advisors? How are they
different to civil
servants?
termorary partisan advisors
can be political
political support such as policies
Policy making function
- create a proposed plan of action and then follow through on that policy
- creating foreign policy and political leadership
- made by government department with various influences
- approved by cabinet committees
- helps to co-ordinate policy
Implementing policy function
take responsibility of running the country
ensure services are running efficiently
through taskforces given authority by parliament
Control over the
legislative agenda
PM bas control over comms timetable where stye can push through legislation
As seen during Covid
Secondary legislation
Vagueness of bills is filled in letter by legislation correcting gaps
impractical for parliemtn to debate finite details
covid 19 saw lots of secondary legislation
Prerogative powers
Power belonging to monarch and exercised by the PM
What is the difference
between accountability
and responsibility?
Accountability- justifying actions to the public
Responsibility- accepting blame for failure
How are ministers held
accountable and
responsible to
Parliament?
accountable by questions and enquiries and communities
they are held responsible by the electorate
What is ‘collective
responsibility’
all ministers are collectively responsible for the elections of the government
What is the confidence
principle? How has this
been impacted by the
Fixed-Term Parliament
Act (2011)?
government only remains n power when it has the confidence of MP’s
1979 James Cahalahan - GE followed
What is the unanimity
principle? Why are
ministers considered
bound by decisions
that were made in their
absence?
All ministers must support and explain cabinet’s decisions even if they dont agree with them
ministers must resign if they disgaree
What are some
examples of ministers
who refused to take
collective responsibility
for particular policies?
Robin Cook- Iraq War
Joris Johnson- Over Brexit
What is the
confidentiality
principle? Why is it
important?
Cabinet discussions are a secret
this enables ministers to freely share their views
What is an example of
a minister violating this
principle?
Gavin Williamson after an inquiry identified him responsible for leaking actinons from a national security council meting
How can collective
responsibility be said to
provide clarity? Why is
such clarity important?
this government then leads to having one voice
What are the two ways
in which collective
responsibility can be
temporarily set aside?
What are some
examples?
Free votes- assisted dying with Kim Leadbeater
Why were ‘agreements
to differ’ particularly
important for the 2010-
15 Coalition?
over areas where collective responsibility would not apply
separate key political diffentces
Why is it arguable that,
in general, the
convention of collective
responsibility is
respected and upheld?
ministers want the government to succeed
Why can collective
responsibility be
broken, even though
the Ministerial Code
says that it applies to
all ministers?
Convention
How did the Lib Dems
force David Cameron
to suspend the
convention in 2012?
where the lib dems blocked boundary reform
What are leaks? How
do they undermine the
convention?
when minsters give journalists secret information
weaker convention because of cabinet discussion
What is sofa
government? Why
does it undermine the
convention?
Tony Blair preferred to discuss policies in small informal meetings
no collective
TB had less power to fire cabinet ministers
Ministers are
collectively responsible
for the Cabinet’s
decisions, but what are
they individually
responsible for?
- their one actions
- the actions of their department
- Gavinwillaimon over grades
How are ministers
held individually
accountable and
responsible?
Questions, Statements
Resignations, firings, taking action
What are some recent
examples of ministers
resigning over their
actions and decisions
in office?
Gavin Williamson
What is an example of
a minister resigning
due to revelations
about their conduct in
their personal lives?
Matt Hancock
Why are ministers also
considered to be
accountable and
responsible for their
entire department?
Civil servants are impartial and annonomus
they can only do as well as the policy they have been told to do
What is an example of
a minister resigning
over mistakes made by
their department?
Gavin Williamson
How has the growing
size and complexity of
modern government
impacted the
convention?
Ministers have to delegate more and more responsibility and there is several layers of leadership
What is the Ministerial
Code? What are its
limitations?
standards expected of ministers not legally binding
vague and leads to going to the PM
What role does the
Independent Advisor
on Ministers’ Interests
play in the enforcement
of the Ministerial
Code?
A role to investigate breaks in the ministerial code
What are institutional
resources?
the team of civil servants and special advisors based at no 10
Why did the earliest
prime ministers actually
have considerable
institutional resources?
How were these
resources lost?
The Prime Minister acted also as the Chancellor so was more powerful however as the government expanded the role of PM split
How has the size and
role of the Prime
Minister’s Office in
No.10 changed in
recent decades?
Slowly increased but still small team 100 or so members of staff
What are constitutive
resources? Why is it
difficult to identify the
PM’s constitutional
powers?
responsibility of PM to make certain decisions
mostly conducted by convention
Why are the Royal
Prerogatives an
important source of
prime ministerial
power?
head of state powers has slowly tradnsefferd into head of government powers
What are examples of
recent legal and non-
legal limits that have
been imposed on the
Royal Prerogatives?
How effective are these
limits?
BJ probation of parliament
May couldn’t begin to negotiate Brexit either
What is patronage?
How does this power
help the PM? What
constitutional and
political limits are there
on the use of
patronage powers?
power to control appointments to a range of offices
Lide peers
political limits to these from senior party figures and other MP’s
diversity
willingness
political positonm
How does the PM’s
position as the head of
cabinet, and their
control of the cabinet
system, help them to
influence policy
making?
amount of cabinet meetings and length and agenda
PM can decide what cabinet has approved
political risks in avoiding sentior members of the party
What is ‘sofa
government’, and why
is it controversial?
preferring to make decisions in bilateral meetings with ministers or small groups of them
As the head of
government, to what
extent can the PM
reshape the structure
of government?
creation of the department for exiting the EU
What are political
resources? What
factors help to give the
PM authority and
influence within the
executive?
Power to persuade and to inflecne which comes form popularity seniority
Under what
circumstances will a
PM’s political power be
at it strongest and
weakest?
strongest when part leadership is strong or a general election is underway
when the PM is seen to represent the party
MP’s may loose loyalty in the party
What are personal
resources? Why might
two different PMs, with
the same institutional,
constitutive & political
resources, still have
varying degrees of
influence within the
executive?
personally, characteristics and traits, skills, profile, expertise, ways of working
How and why did the
cabinet’s institutional
resources change over
the course of the 20th
Century?
Meetings became more formal and minutes were taken.
Cabinet secretary became permiant.
more stadd to work in what would become the cabinet office
How does the Cabinet
Office support the
cabinet system today?
Provides administrative support
- taking minutes
- preparing adgendas
- committee meetings
- co- ordinating departmetns
How and why does the
Cabinet Office also
support the PM?
- supports by being a Lisbon point between departments
- PM is chair of the cabinet
- often the PM is dependant on civil servants
How do the institutional
resources of individual
cabinet ministers
compare with those of
the prime minister?
Secretaries of state have junior ministers and spads to facilitate the running of the department
In constitutional theory,
what is the main role of
cabinet? To what
extent does cabinet still
perform this function?
By convention the cabinet is the ultimate decisions making body of the government
if the policy is decisive the PM has an interest in allowing the members of the cab to express their views
this was significant when BJ was significant to intensive care
What are the other
main functions
performed by the
cabinet system?
Policy to be discussed by various committees
ratification of policy
keeps ministers informed on decisions
co-ordinates policy that cut across various departments
Individually, what
constitutive resources
do cabinet ministers
have that the prime
minister lacks?
ability to make secondary legislation
PM has no power over this
In what ways can a
strong PM influence
the cabinet system?
- How often meetings take place
- to sum up what happened in meetings
- how long meetings are held
- create and disband committees
- can change ministers
How can political
circumstances
strengthen/weaken
cabinet ministers?
When thatcher had to re- stand for the leadership of the conservative party while she stood down as the majority of the cabinet felt she should resign
Why can it be politically
risky for a PM to
continually ignore the
objections of cabinet
ministers?
Revolt and mass resignation- Boris Johnson
How and why did
cabinet resignations,
and the loss of cabinet
support, impact PM
Margaret Thatcher?
She had to re stand for the conservative leadership
How and why will a
cabinet’s influence also
depend on the
personal resources of
individual cabinet
ministers?
Personal resources- power of persuasion, likability, respect, personal out
What is the traditional
explanation of where
power lies in the
executive branch?
Historically it has been seen that it is the cabinet
How had arguments
changed by the 60s?
What evidence
supports claims that
cabinet government
has been replaced by
prime ministerial
government?
Size and role of the cabinet was replaced by the PM
Even considered that no.10 had become a British presidency
What led some
academics to suggest
that the office of prime
minister had become
increasingly
presidential?
- increasing institutional resources
- special advisors replacing the advice of the cabinet
- branches of the executive branch
- shorter less frequent cabinet meetings
How have these
arguments been
criticised and
challenged?
That the PM can only act in a presidential way thanks to a larger majority
Why is the question of
whether it is the prime
minister or cabinet that
dominates the
executive arguably
flawed?
because power isnt static but a fluid
What is the core
executive model? Why
does power and
influence within the
core executive vary
from policy to policy
the network of the executive needed to deliver one policy
no one has full control over resources
balance between the model
How did coalition
impact the institutional
resources available to
the Prime Minister and
other Conservative
ministers?
because Nick Clegg was deputy PM
deputy PM office was established
How and why did the
Prime Minister still
maintain an advantage
in terms of institutional
resources?
because they were split based on size still most of the resources were with the tories
How were the Prime
Minister’s patronage
powers, and control
over the cabinet
system, impacted by
coalition?
as the senior parties the tories would have 18 cabinet ministers and 59
Lib Dems had 18 cabinet ministers and 12 junior ministers
How did coalition
government increase
the significance and
influence of the cabinet
and cabinet
committees?
Cabinet contained liberals across the cabinet
this led to power to libs
they did have to bond to cab collective
In what ways was
cabinet government
still undermined during
the coalition?
- ratification
information and cordiaiton
there was still disagreements
What political obstacles
did coalition pose to
the Prime Minister?
coalition committee existed to resolve disputes between members
liberals could pull out of votes
less jobs given to lib MP’s
What opportunities did
coalition give the Prime
Minister? In what ways
did Cameron benefit?
both groups had to prove they could work together
Clegg did absorb negative media attention
cam was close to the lib dems
