PM and Cabinet Flashcards
Responsible govt = parlimentary
Executive must have confidence of legislature to stay in office
if legislature rejects legislation but forward by the executive, it may have to resign
the legislature can force the executive to resign
executive stability depends on party composition of legislature
West-minister model of Parliamentary democracy
parliamentary sovereignty shared power -commons -lords -crown
Representative govt
responsible govt
- collective ministerial responsibility
- confidence of lower house
Executive powers: Canadian PM
Prime ministerial authority rests on:
- leader of party
- Leader of govt
Prime Ministerial Power: Cabinet Maker
- Most highly prized position of elected officials
- who will be in Cabinet
- What cabinet position they will occupy
- How long they will stay in Cabinet
Prime Ministerial Power: Other appointments
Parliamentary secretaries & committee Chairs
Senate & Lt Govs
Judicial appointments
UN positions, Ambassadors
Variety of boards and Commissions
Prime Ministerial Power: dissolution
Dissolution
- Only person empowered to advise GG
- 40% turnover in elections
Prime Ministerial Power: Special Mandate
Chosen by party convention or election
caucus and cabinet have no power to remove
chosen in a sense by national electorate in election
Prime Ministerial Power: Special electoral role
Pm Focus of voters during election
Signs nomination papers of all candidates
-if the leader doesn’t sign you, you cannot run
- Appoints all significant campaign figures
- declares and interprets policy
Prime ministerial power: Cabinet Chari
No votes
determines agenda and timing
Prime ministerial power: Conference representation of Canada
First ministers conferences
international conferences
Prime ministerial power: Governmental organizations
Creates and disbands depts
changes cabinet responsibilities
appoints deputy ministers in every department
cabinet committee structures
Prime ministerial power: Information sources: Access to central agencies PMO (prime ministers office)
overtly political body
personal appointees of PM
Prime ministerial power: PCO (privy council office)
Top of civil service
support staff for PM
Provide advice to cab
Write up and follow cab decisions
The PMs office
The PMO is the only partisan central agency
PMO officials are the PMs personal staff, performing functions ranging from handling his/her correspondence and schedule, speech writing, media relations etc
The Privy Council Office
The PCO:
“Never centre of the federal public service”
- Is headed by the clerk of the PCO, the top bureaucrat who reports directly to the PM
- Briefs the PM on the selection of deputy ministers, on federal-provincial relations, and on all issues of governmental organization and ministerial mandates
- provides support services for the cab committees
- supervises departmental submissions to cabinet
Summarizing PM authority
Powerful
institutional inertia
importance of patronage
affective
Powers Compared
Neither, US President nor British PM as powerful as CDN PM
- Role of party leader not as important in either country as it is in Canada
- -Other rival the leader (PM) in authority
- -Method of selection
Size of legislature matters
- -different role perception for other elected reps
- -the smaller the legislature the more powerful the PM is
- Nature of elections matters
Prime ministerial Exits
death = 2 Retired in office = 7 Deposed by Cab = 1 Retired by electorate = 11 -Defeated in election and lost their position
Executive
PM
Cabinet (Headed by PM)
- Functions
- -Determines priority setting
- -The decision making body (most powerful)
- -Responsibility
- -supervision of bureaucracy
- -representation
Cabinet
Operating principles
cab solidarity
- Cant remain in cab if you disagree
cabinet secrecy
-cant report publicly
ministerial responsibility
-minister is expected to take responsibility of the decisions and the actions that have been made under his department
Cabinet Appointments
Committee of Parliament - Not soon into cab, you are sworn into the privy council
federal nature
francophone proportionate share
representation of women
party unity
competence
