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Politics Component 2 > Prime Minister and Executive > Flashcards

Prime Minister and Executive Flashcards

1
Q

What are the components of His Majesty’s Government

A

Prime Minister - 1
The cabinet -24
Junior ministers from Commons- 80
Junior ministers from the Lords - 25

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2
Q

What are civil servants?

A

Help ministers make and implement policy, permeant officials and politically neutral

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3
Q

What are the three main roles of the executive?

A

Proposing legislation - Kings speech and government bills
Proposing budget - Chancellor proposes a budget setting out the government proposals for taxation
Exp. 2020 Sunak proposed 12bn for extra spending for COVID
Making policy decisions - government departments make policy choices

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4
Q

What are the three main powers of the executive?

A

Royal prerogative powers - in theory the monarchs has this power but he acts upon the advice of the PM
Initiation or legislation - power to propose bills to Parliament and controls the timing of these
Secondary legislation- changing small details of bills

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5
Q

What is the Cabinet?

A

Team of senior government ministers who collectively govern the UK - supreme decision making body
appointed by the King who follows the advice of the PM

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6
Q

What are some limitations of the cabinet?

A

Power has shifted from the cabinet to the PM
cabinet could not take all weeks key decisions in a single meeting

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7
Q

What are the 6 key roles of the cabinet?

A

Policy coordination
Dispute resolution
Party management
Forum for debate
Policy approval
Symbol of collective government

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8
Q

Who are some current government ministers?

A

Chancellor of Exchequer- Jeremy Hunt
Home secretary - James Cleverly
Education secretary- Gillian Keegan
Foreign secretary- Lord Cameron

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9
Q

What is collective responsibility?

A

The doctrine that ministers must defend the governments position publicly even if they disagree with the position privately

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10
Q

What are some examples of resignations under collective responsibility

A

Headline - 1986 - Thatcher overruled him over helicopter deal
Cook - 2003 - Iraq war and Blair
Johnson - 2018 - Mays soft Brexit plan at Chequers
Sunak - Johnson’s leadership and scandals

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11
Q

What are the implications of collective responsibility?

A

cabinet:
Less likely to rebel against decisions due to fear losing a job
creates more cabinet unity

PM;”:
anxious about mass resignation
announce policy’s publicly before consulting parliament

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12
Q

What is individual ministerial responsibility?

A

ministers a responsible for:
actions and inactions of department
ministers own personal conduct

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13
Q

What are the differences between civil servants and ministers

A

CS:
permanent
politically neutral
anonymous

Ministers:
non permanent
political
publicly accountable

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14
Q

What are examples of resignations due to individual ministerial responsibility?

A

Estelle Morris - 2002 - felt she wasn’t effective in job
Chris Huhne - 2012 - lying for speeding and going to prison
Maria Miller - 2014 - expenses scandal
Matt Hancock - 2021 - affair during covid

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15
Q

What are the 6 functions of the PM;

A

Head of government- selects government, head of civil servants (exp. Sunak sacking Braverman and appointing Lord Cameron)
Chief domestic policy maker - direct overall policy (exp. Johnson and lockdown, Rwanda bill)
Chief foreign policy maker - making treaties (support for ukraine and brexit)
Commander in chief of Armed forces - ultimate decision wether to send troops to war (Sunak and Yemen)
Chief government spokesperson- provide official government line on policies ( Johnson during Covid)
Parliamentary leader - leads largest party in Commons

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16
Q

What is the difference between formal and informal powers:

A

Formal - all PMs posses prerogative powers (technically held by king but exercised by PM)
Informal - vary according to PM and their circumstances

17
Q

What are the formal powers of PM?

A

Granting peerage - Lord Cameron and Baroness Own
Head of Civil Servixe
Appoint and dismiss ministers
Commanding the Armed forces
Negotiating foreign treaties
chairing cabinet meetings

18
Q

What is the power of patronage?

A

Bring MPs and peers into cabinet - 2022 Sunak brought Gillian Keegan in for Education Secretary
Remove MPs - Liz Truss sacked Kwasi Kwarteng after 38 days
Reshuffle ministers - 2022 Sunak promoted Braverman to Home Secretary
Restructure positions and department - 2021 Johnson added levelling up department

19
Q

What factors do PMs take into account when appointing ministers?

A

Loyalty - Truss appointed her friend Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor in 2022
Expertise - current Defence Secretary Ben Wallace spent eight years in the Army
Powerful figure in party - Blair included Brown in his 1997-2007 cabinet
Tendency balance - May included Brexiteerd and ex-Remainers
Representation
convention that ministers are drawn from parliament

20
Q

What are the main constraint on PMs power?

A

The cabinet
parliament
PMs own party
The public
The media

21
Q

What is the cabinet office

A

A small organisation serving the PM and work mostly in Number 10
Number 10 policy unit: develop policies in line with PMs agenda
Communications unit; briefs the media helping PM spread message

22
Q

How does the PM control Parliament?

A

Has a majority in commons so can pass bills quickly
Lords unelected so PM can use this as a reason to pass bills
Use programme motion to limit debate in Commins
Can bypass Lords after one year
Can easily create new peers

23
Q

In what ways is Parliament able to control the PM

A

Lords can reject and amend bills as there is not programme motion
Vote of no confidence can be called
Commons can choose not to pass bills
Opposition day debates
PMQs and Liasion committee

24
Q

In what ways can the PM control their party?

A

Whipping system encourage MPs to support government
Demoting MPs if they rebel too much
Publicly annnounce policy to force collective responsibility
giving speeches at party conference

25
Q

In what ways can party control the PM?

A

choose not to support a bill
can call a party vote of no confidence
backbenchers speaking out publicly against PM

26
Q

What is the Cabinet government thesis?

A

Power is exercised collectively by the team of ministers making up His Majesty’s Government
- cabinet is the senior element of the executive
- decisions in cabinet are taken democratically

27
Q

What are some examples of cabinet government thesis

A
  • Cabinet resignations damaged Thatchers reputation (Heseltine 1986)
  • Major cabinet called ‘cabinet of chums’ as he lead a more collegiate style
  • Broen faced resignations from three Cabinet ministers before the EU Parliament elections
  • Cameron suspended collective responsibility to let cabinet public disagree over the Brexit referendum
  • May had 60 ministerial departures between 2017-2019
  • Johnson resigned in 2022 as ministers began resigning faster than he could replace them
28
Q

What is the prime ministerial government thesis?

A

Prime minister has been able to dominate both the executive and Parliament using formal and informal powers

29
Q

What are some examples of prime ministerial government thesis?

A

1983 - After winning in the Falklands Thatcher took on a more presidential style (popularity)
1997 - Blair left Prescott in charge of cabinet meeting discussing the Dome which they voted against - Blair ignored this and announced construction would go ahead
2000 - Blair announced Uk would reach EU average for health spending without consulting Brown
2020 - Johnsons cabinet remained largely compliant to issues on Covid and Brexit

30
Q

What is the core executive thesis?

A

Prime ministers are more powerful if they bring others into the policy making process, building effective relationships with these individuals

31
Q

What are some examples of the core executive thesis?

A

2008 Brown tried to demote Chancellor Darling but he said he wouldn’t take any other Cabinte job
2010-15: Cameron coalition dominated by the quad
2019-22 Johnson closely linked to Number 10 advisor Dominic Cummmungs
2022: Truss and Kwarteng cut the top rate of tax without discussing with cabinet

32
Q

What are some arguments against the PM becoming like a president?

A
  • UK is collectively governed by cabinet
  • PM frequently brought down mid term and replaced by a Cabinet colleague
  • not always able to articulate personal ideologies
  • not directly elected so has not personal mandate
  • PMs personal department is much smaller than the presidents
  • not the figurehead or Head of State the King is

Politics Component 2 (5 decks)

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