The prime minister and executive Flashcards
Institutions of the Executive
PM
Cabinet
Ministers
Government departments (administrative)
Functions of the executive
Making policy decisions
Proposing legislation
Proposing a budget
Powers of the executive
Prerogative powers - do not require parliamentary approval
Control of the legislative agenda - propose most bills and controls the legislative timetable
Powers of secondary legislation
Prime Minister’s Office
Policy advice
Communications
Power of the PM
Patronage Authority over the cabinet Policy-making input - overarching Party leadership Public standing
Roles of government ministers
Policy leadership
Representing departmental interests
Departmental management
Relations with parliament
Role of government departments
Providing policy advice to ministers
Managing public spending
Fostering relationships with pressure groups
Policy implementation
Ministerial responsibility
Collective ministerial responsibility
Individual ministerial responsibilty
Institutional power resources of the PM (pre-eminence)
Leadership of the government
The Prime Minister’s Office
Setting the political agenda
Personal power resources of the PM (predominance)
Leadership ability and reputation
Association with political success
Electoral popularity
A high standing within their party
Presidentialisation of the PM
Personalised leadership
Public outreach
Spatial leadership
Role of the PM
Political leadership National leadership Appointing the government Chairing the cabinet Managing the executive Prerogative powers Managing relations with parliament Representing the UK in international affairs
Patronage powers of the PM
Appoint government ministers
Appoint life peers
The honours system
PM’s authority of the executive
Chairs cabinet meetings
Creates cabinet committees
Holds bilateral meetings with ministers
Appoints senior civil servants
Elements of collective responsibility
Secrecy
Binding decisions
Confidence vote (last happened?)
Exceptions to collective ministerial responsibility
Referendums
Coalition
Free votes
Strains on collective responsibility
Leaks
Dissent
Prime-ministerial dominance
Grounds for resignation based on individual ministerial responsibility
Mistakes made within departments
Policy failure
Personal misconduct
Principles of the civil service
Impartiality
Anonymity
Permanence
Meritocracy
Pro cabinet is submissive to the PM
PM able to appoint their own supporters to the cabinet and dismiss ministers who disagree with them
PM has control over the cabinet agenda
Greater role of the PMO in directing and coordinating policy across government
PM can claim a personal mandate from the public and their party
Anti cabinet is submissive to the PM
Senior ministers can frustrate the PM by threatening to resign - IDS / Boris
Pro PM has become more Presidential
Increasingly rely on close circle of senior ministers and advisers
Anti PM has become more Presidential
Requires the support of ministers to achieve their objectives
Face pressure from within their own party to be removed if unpopular
Pro coalition as a constraint on the power of Cameron as PM
Could not dismiss Lib Dem ministers without Clegg’s approval
Required to manage tensions between the two parties in addition to dissent within his own party
Anti coalition as a constraint on the power of Cameron as PM
Retained significant patronage powers, such as making appointments to cabinet committees
Still determined the overall direction of government policy and its response to key issues
Coalition decisions often smoother than those between Blair and Brown
Coalition government allows Cameron to form a stable parliamentary majority
Prerogative powers
Deploying the armed forces overseas
International diplomacy
Patronage
Limits to the prerogative powers of the executive in recent years
Constitutional convention that parliament votes on the deployment of the armed forces overseas
e.g. Against airstrikes in Syria in 2013, in favour in 2015
Power to call a General Election removed by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
Example of a mistake made within a department leading to a minister resigning
Sir Thomas Dugdale
Agriculture Minister
1954
Crichel Down land case
Example of a policy failure leading to a minister resigning
James Callaghan
Chancellor of the Exchequer
1967
Devaluation of the Sterling
Example of personal misconduct leading to a minister resigning
Andrew Mitchell
Chief Whip
2012
