PM And Cabinet Flashcards
1
Q
What is the executive?
A
- branch of gov responsible for implementation of laws/policies made by Parliament
- main powers - patronage powers; deployment of armed forces; relations w/international powers/international diplomacy; making/ratifying treaties; organisation/structure of civil service; issuing directives/statements during national emergency.
2
Q
What is the political executive?
A
- gov of day; composed of ministers; job is to take overall responsibility for direction/coordination of gov policy.
3
Q
What is the official executive?
A
- The bureaucracy - administrative machinery of gov; rule by officials.
- composed of senior civil servants; provides policy advice/implementation of gov policy.
4
Q
What is presidentialism?
A
- tendency for political leaders to act increasingly like executive presidents, through rise of personal leadership
5
Q
What is the Cabinet?
A
- committee of leading ministers; empowered to make official gov policy
6
Q
What does ‘primus inter pares’ mean?
A
- first among equals; PM in sense that they are primary representative of gov, in relation to monarch and through right to be consulted about significant policy issues.
- suggests all members of cabinet have equal influence.
7
Q
What is the core executive?
A
- informal network at centre of gov; key roles - making policy, passing legislation, financing, being national first responder.
- main bodies/actors within - PM; leading members of PM’s Office/other close advisors; cabinet; main cabinet committees/leading figures within Cabinet Office etc
8
Q
What is the inner cabinet?
A
- group of very senior ministers close to PM; can control cabinet by determining policy amongst themselves
9
Q
What is sofa government?
A
- associated with Blair’s style; made key decisions with unofficial advisory group, bypassing cabinet
10
Q
What is a think tank?
A
- develops policy proposals/campaigns for their acceptance amongst gov/policy-makers.
11
Q
What are political advisors?
A
- work in supporting role to gov; political appointees who are loyal to governing parties, even particular ministers.
12
Q
Deputy prime minister?
A
- senior cabinet minister who acts for PM in their absence
- not official; not permanent; no set responsibilities
13
Q
What is a kitchen cabinet?
A
- loose/informal group of policy advisors consulted by PM outside formal cabinet.
14
Q
What is collective ministerial responsibility?
A
- convention; defines relationships between executive/Parliament, ministers/cabinet
- two main features - implies gov accountable to parliament (rests on confidence of HoC); implies all ministers obliged to support official gov policy in public/parliament
15
Q
What is the definition of a minister?
A
- run gov departments, make policy, oversee work of civil servants.
- appointed by PM.
16
Q
What are civil servants?
A
- appointed gov officials; provide policy advice/implement gov policy.
- politically neutral, permanent, accountable to minister.
17
Q
What is individual ministerial responsibility?
A
- convention that defines relationship between ministers/their departments.
- two main features - implies ministers accountable to Parliament for policies/actions of their departments; civil servants accountable to their ministers.
18
Q
What is cabinet government?
A
- three central features - fusion of executive/legislative branches as its members head government, also drawn from/accountable to Parliament; controls policy-making process/makes all major gov decisions; policy made democratically with each member’s view carrying equal weight.
19
Q
What are secretaries of state?
A
- cabinet ministers in charge of gov department
20
Q
What are ministers of state?
A
- junior to secretaries; MPs not usually in cabinet
21
Q
What are parliamentary under-secretaries of state?
A
- junior to ministers of state; not members of cabinet but may serve on cabinet committees.
22
Q
What are parliamentary private secretaries?
A
- unpaid; help the government track backbench opinion; not officially members of gov
23
Q
What is the cabinet office?
A
- body that services cabinet system through cabinet secretariat; responsible for coordinating policy across Whitehall departments/ensuring policy delivery.
24
Q
What is the cabinet secretary?
A
- most senior civil servant
25
Q
What is the cabinet secretariat?
A
- non-departmental; sits in cabinet office, serves PM/ministers who chair committees; cabinet secretary is head of cabinet secretariat.
26
Q
What is the prime minister’s office?
A
- collection of senior officials/political advisors; advise about policy/implementation, communication, party management, gov relations
27
Q
What is meant by patronage?
A
- granting of favours/privileges; usually involves control over jobs/appointments
28
Q
How is policy made? (7 points)
A
- manifesto pledges/promises - extending free childcare; conservatives 2017.
- personal conviction of PM - privatisation/sale of council houses by Thatcher; wanted to roll back/shrink state.
- outcome of referendum - Brexit
- results of deals w/minority/other coalition parties - 2011 AV referendum
- responses to national crises/emergencies - coronavirus; initially slow; had to be quick.
- mounting pressure from media/public - climate change policy; PGs like XR/climate strikes; 2019 - pledged net zero by 2050.
- changing social/cultural attitudes - 1960s/liberalisation of public attitudes; Wilson -> legalised abortion up to 24 weeks, decriminalised male homosexuality.
29
Q
Why do ministers resign?
A
- accepting blame for error/injustice within their department - 1954 Crichel Down affair; Dugdale resigned as minister of agriculture taking blame for civil service mistakes/inefficiency.
- unwillingness to accept collective responsibility over policy - Robin Cook/Iraq War; suggested that GB work with European partners/UN.
- inability to deliver policy promise in department - Tracey Crouch; delays on maximum stakes for fixed-odds betting machines; pushing back could cost lives of problem gamblers.
- personal misconduct - Damian Green, broke honesty principle; Priti Patel/failed to be honest about unauthorised meetings with 14 Israeli ministers, breaking ministerial code.
- political pressure - Andrew Mitchell/Plebgate; used derogatory term against public servant; Cameron cabinet already had reputation for being out of touch.
30
Q
What are the main powers of the executive?
A
- appt/dismissal of ministers by PM/other patronage powers.
- deployment of armed forces overseas.
- relations with international powers/international diplomacy.
- making/ratifying treaties.
- organisation/structure of civil service.
- issuing directives/statements during national crises.
31
Q
What’s an example of PM in national crisis?
A
- during Covid - instructed people to stay at home with a few exceptions; for guidelines to have any force, eg fines, parliament had to pass Coronavirus Act 2020.
- Act passed swiftly; all parliamentary stages but without full debate/scrutiny.
32
Q
How are the prerogative powers of the executive significant?
A
- opportunity to deploy armed forces; UK govs not formally required to seek parliamentary approval for action of additional funding.
- enjoy unlimited choice over who joins/leaves gov; no approval needed; presence of Lords means PM can select ministers who lack democratic mandate.
- PM delivers broadcasts, speeches, messages to ppl during crisis; 27m ppl estimated to have watched message about national lockdown.
33
Q
How has the role of PM changed greatly in recent times?
A
- several recents PMs eg Thatcher/Blair have been accused of running more presidential style of leadership; claimed they frequently bypassed full cabinet meetings/discussions; sofa gov.
- growth in use of SpAds at expense of seeking policy advice from civil service; BJ - 108.
- development of social media has resulted in growing focus on personality/style of individuals rather than wider cabinet; televised leaders’ debates.
- increased media scrutiny/opportunities have led PMs to focus on popular media/take message directly to ppl, appearing on soft format TV chat shows.
34
Q
What are the institutional powers of PM?
A
- appointing/dismissing ministers; cabinet reshuffles.
- chairing weekly meetings of cabinet/setting agenda.
- arranging/sometimes chairing cabinet committees.
- dictating policy priorities.
- Cabinet Office.
- usually being able to command HoC majority to pass legislation.
- issuing honours eg life peerages
35
Q
What are the personal/political powers of PM?
A
- momentum/political capital that comes from leading party to victory; enables them to persuade/lead more effectively.
- effective management of colleagues in cabinet/backbenches.
- personal qualities as effective communicator/national leader.
- ability to unite/rally own party.
- skill in managing economy/handling unexpected challenges.
36
Q
What circumstances determine PM’s powers?
A
- opinion poll ratings/results of more recent elections eg by-elections/local council elections.
- personalities in cabinet/party at the time.
- potential leadership challenges.
- strength/threat posed by main opposition party.
37
Q
How powerful are patronage powers?
A
- initially very; can hire/fire as they please; quite personal -> May removed 15 minsters when taking over.
- PM needs to be careful to maintain balance in terms of both diversity/policy positions; May had to include Remainers and Brexiteers; Blair had to include influential Brown alongside John Prescott, whose style/background complemented leader.
- must be careful of who/how many they sack; ex-minister on backbenches can be damaging eg Thatcher’s demotion/resignation of former foreign secretary George Howe resulted in leadership challenge of Heseltine.
- too many reshuffles -> weak.
- coalition gov brings own contraints on powers of appointment; Cameron ceded patronage power of five cabinet-ranking posts.
38
Q
How much authority do PMs have over cabinet?
A
- dictate when/where it meets eg Sunderland on 31 Jan 2020.
- decide agenda/chair proceedings.
- cabinet is formal decision-making body; all ministers required to support cabinet decisions (collective responsibility).
- agreement never automatic; much depends on personalities, issues, political context; Blair never able to persuade chancellor Brown to support UK adopting euro.
- although meetings meant to be private, modern PMs often deal with problem of leaking; Johnson issued new edition of Ministerial Code.
39
Q
How does PM use cabinet committees?
A
- most decisions made by full cabinet have effectively been decided in advance by committees; take decisions on specific policy areas.
- effectiveness largely down to individual ministers/PM eg implementation committees set up under Johnson created Climate Change Committee; committed to achieving net zero by 2050.
- Blair had large number, but preferred ad hoc meetings.
- under May - degree of inconsistency; initially slimmed down no. of committees to 5 main/10 sub; chaired every committee March 2017, but election result undermined power.
40
Q
How do PMs dictate policy priorities?
A
- PMs w/strong majorities and mandates especially able to exert influence; Thatcher able to carry out major programme of privatisation/reduce TU power; Blair able to modernise aspects of Constitution/show departure from traditional socialist past.
- often bound by manifesto pledges/constrained by unfolding developments; Cameron/Brexit.
41
Q
What is the Cabinet Office/how is it used?
A
- provide support for cabinet system; around 2050 civil servants; ensure running of government.
- effectively corporate HQ for central government; takes lead in certain policy areas; administrative support; coordinates between departments.
- individual PMs tweak priorities/roles to reflect issues; during pandemic, Rapid Response Unit created to deal with misinformation.
42
Q
How does PM’s role as party leader affect them?
A
- additional resources; guarantees policies/legislation gets through parliament.
- leader elected by their MPs/party members -> strong degree of legitimacy.
- party loyalty conditional not absolute; Thatcher forced out by own MPs.
- party can influence leader’s policy; Conservative rebellions over Europe led Cameron to promise in/out referendum on continued EU membership.
43
Q
How do PMs dispense honours?
A
- can award life peerages to former MPs/party supporters; used to alter balance of HoL for party advantage.
- Blair/Brown made total of 173 Labour peers, only 66 Tory nominations; Cameron/May - 136 Tory life peers, only 59 Labour.
- source of controversy; should be non-political.
- several generous donors to Tory funds have been rewarded; includes Andrew Cook who have more than £1m.
44
Q
How are personal/political powers used?
A
- most important is to gain political capital; enhanced when PMs get it right with high-risk policy; wise/good judgement crucial to be influential.
- 1982 - undertaking of military operation to retake Falkland Islands; victory credited with contributing to landslide victory for Thatcher in 1983; boosted authority.
- 2014 - Cameron agreed to vote on Scottish Independence; actively campaigned for it to remain/put authority on the line.
45
Q
What are the powers/resources of the cabinet?
A
- most ministers run own departments, so have degree of autonomy over policy details; PMs can set tone/clarify expectation but rarely get involved in policy minutiae eg organising 2012 London Olympics.
- can have own links to media/PGs; can leak info eg defence secretary Gavin Williamson sacked for allegedly leaking to press details from National Security Council meeting.
- powerful ministers can refuse to be moved in reshuffle; 2018 - health secretary Jeremy Hunt refused to be moved and ended up with enhanced role.
- meetings can involve real debate/discussion; PMs use as sounding boards before committing.
- resignation of own accord; large numbers of ministers resigning implies weak/divided gov; May had 35.
46
Q
In what ways does cabinet government still exist?
A
- remains key forum for high-level policy decisions.
- cabinet can still influence policy/prove useful to PM to take soundings and promote more coordinated approach to policy.
- senior/influential ministers can be hard to remove.
- too many cabinet resignations can be sign of weakness not strength; former ministers can be focus for internal opposition.
- gov departments contain own senior civil servants who provide policy support/expertise; also have own political advisers.
47
Q
In what ways is the executive largely unaccountable to parliament?
A
- answers in parliament esp PMQs often favour style over substance; can avoid difficult questions.
- principles can be open to interpretation; ministers often claim they were unaware of an error; if they have backing of PM, they are unlikely to resign.
- select committees have relatively little power; an unconvincing/evasive performance is no guarantee of dismissal.
- generally, party loyalty is guaranteed; party discipline, desire to prevent opponents gaining ground.
48
Q
How are the prerogative powers of the executive less significant?
A
- by convention, all recent military action overseas has been put before a vote; Gulf Wars, air strikes on Syria/Iraq.
- PM constrained in choice of ministers; must appoint cabinet w/diversity, broad spectrum of governing party; May had to include Remainers and Brexiteers.
- must rely on parliament to pass relavent legislation such as anti-terror laws; opposition quick to critique/monitor response to emergencies.
- Brexit showed how limited prerogative powers can be; SC ruling forced PM to submit any deal before parliament.
49
Q
How has the role of PM not changed in recent years?
A
- no formal changes in powers; some powers have been reduced including easily calling fresh GE.
- predominant premierships of Thatcher/Blair should be assessed alongside more imperilled ones.
- influence of SpAds exaggerated; importance of more traditional sources eg civil service; when devising gov response to Covid, most powerful advice cam from medical experts eg Chris Whitty.
- image-aware PMs aren’t likely to portray selves as sole/star player; during Covid, Johnson often appeared at media briefings with chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance.
50
Q
In what ways does cabinet government no longer exist?
A
- many decisions made at cabinet committee level/in bilateral meetings.
- many meetings brief; used more to resolve/arbitrate disputes between departments.
- ministers appointed by PM/must do their bidding; can easily be removed.
- PMs can appear strong/decisive by removing opponents; BJ sacked more than half of May’s Cabinet (Remainers).
- Cabinet Office/special advisers play increasing role in providing research/policy advice across departments; can bypass formal cabinet structure.
51
Q
In what ways is the executive not unaccountable to parliament?
A
- ministers subject to regular grilling at ministerial questions/PMQs; televised.
- all members of executive must follow principles on standards expected in public life as set out in Ministerial Code.
- ministers appear before select committees/must be honest and truthful; Johnson/Partygate.
- PM must retain support of parliamentary party; PM’s position can be threatened.
