the cabinet Flashcards
government
what is the cabinet?
-group of senior ministers + heads of govt depts who make key decisions
how did it develop?
-out of the Privy Council (Kings’ advisers) in C16/18
-WWI changed it- govt had to take on more power/responsibility
-can be made of MPs/peers
-coalition govt. witnesses a resurgence of importance + power- declined since 2019
how is it formed?
-PM selects members
-power of patronage is at highest level
-PM decides: what kind of cabinet they want, and who should be in it
what must a PM consider in a coalition?
-must consult coalition partner to decide who will be in cabinet
-cabinet must mirror party strength in HofC- e.g. 5 Lib Dems in 2010 coalition
-coalition partner should have an important role
what is collective responsibility?
all decisions made in cabinet must be collectively supported by all govt members (publicly)
what are the three rules of collective responsibility (CR)?
1- secrecy
2- binding decisions
3-confidence vote
what is secrecy (CR)?
all cab discussions = secret, cab seems united to public + state affairs are private
what are binding decisions(CR)?
all govt/cab decisions are binding on all govt members- if you cant agree, you must resign e.g. Ian Duncan Smith
what are confidence votes (CR)?
whole govt must resign if looses a vote of no confidence in HofC e.g. Callaghan 1979
what do cabinet committees (CCs) do?
-reduce burden on cabinet- enable collective decisions to be taken by smaller groups of ministers
who are CCs composed by?
the PM- choose the ministers
what is individual ministerial responsibility?
-cabinet minister has ultimate responsibility for actions of their ministry/department
-the accountable minister is expected to take the blame + resign
what are the conditions of individual ministerial responsibility?
-the govt wont be held answerable for the minister’s failure
-even if the minister is unaware of any corruption/misbehaviour, they are responsible
