Topic 2: Prime Minister and Cabinet

Question 1

Cabinet Government (4)

Answer 1

• Body that fuses executive and legislature
• Controls policy making and all major government decisions = senior executive organ
• Policy made democratically with each member’s views carrying equal weight
• Cabinet collegiality and collective ministerial responsibility

Question 2

Core executive (2)

Answer 2

• Informal network of bodies and actors that play a key role in policy process
• e.g PM, Cabinet, external bodies such as banks

Question 3

Prime Ministerial Government (5)

Answer 3

• Alternative to Cabinet Government
• Suggests the PM has replaced Cabinet at apex of executive
• PM fuses legislature and executive as they’re drawn from/accountable to it and controls the administrative machinery of government
• Dominates policy-making, makes major decisions and exerts policy influence in all areas
• Cabinet is subordinate and only advisory

Question 4

Presidentialism (3)

Answer 4

• Trend of political leaders acting like executive presidents
• Due to personalised leadership
• e.g more SPADs, ‘spatial leadership’ like Thatcherism, claiming personal mandate (destroyed Brown).

Question 5

Collective responsibility (5)

Answer 5

• Collectively responsible to parliament as a vote of no confidence = general election/all ministers resign
• All ministers obliged to support policy in Parliament and public
• Resign/be fired if they speak against government
• Cabinet secrecy
• Based on assumption of single-party government

Question 6

Individual Responsibility (5)

Answer 6

• Implies ministers are responsible to Parliament for departments
• Obligation to inform/explain e.g select committees
• Resign
• Implies responsibility for blunders of civil servants but ministers generally only resign over personal blunders
• Civil servants are responsible to ministers e.g loyal and supportive, dismiss disagreements in secret