U1- UK Constitutional Arrangements Flashcards
Describe the UK
It is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch who effectively has no political power
What does parliamentary sovereignty ensure?
That all powers are vested in the UK parliament and the powers granted to the devolved governments can be returned to the UK parliament and the devolved parliaments abolished
What places limits on parliamentary sovereignty?
Membership of the EU and acceptance of the European Convention on Human Rights places limits on parliamentary sovereignty
What is the legislative branch of the government?
UK parliament:
Consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords
What is the executive branch of the UK government?
Prime minister and the cabinet
What is the UK central government responsible for?
National affairs such as the economy, defence, foreign policy and the environment.
The prime minister leads government with the support of her cabinet and ministers.
Departments and their agencies are responsible for putting government policy into practice
What are the 3 parts that the British executive branch divides up into?
The Prime Minister
The Cabinet
The Civil Service
What are the 3 main powers of the prime minister?
The power of appointment, commonly known as ‘patronage’
Majority party leader
Chairman/ woman of the cabinet
Views of the PM and Cabinet VS Civil Service?
The PM and Cabinet are politically partisan however the Civil Service is politically neutral and performs administrative tasks
The PM does not head a government department
Describe the power of appointment
This is their most effective weapon within the executive branch.
They can appoint the members of the cabinet and demote and promote them as they wish, at whatever time for whatever reason
The PM also decides on the size of their cabinet
This power is commonly used when their government is doing badly in the opinion polls
The PM has the final say in the appointment of Life Peers e.g. Archbishops in the Church of England
Describe the power of party leader
The PM reaches the top political position in British Government by virtue of their leadership of the majority party in the House of Commons
As the leader of the majority party the PM enjoys the support of Parliament. As long as there is a working majority in support of the PM and Cabinet in the Commons, the PM can rely on parliament to adopt the policies of his/ her government.
The loss of such a majority within the governing party can weaken the power of the PM and government
Describe the power of Cabinet Chairperson
The PM chairs cabinet meetings and is the political head of the Civil Service
The PM may dominate cabinet meetings
They usually control the agenda, lead the discussion and sum up the ‘sense’ of the meeting
The PM is one member of the cabinet with a ‘global’ view of the business of government
The PM is a member of the most important cabinet committees which do much of the work of the cabinet, however other powerful cabinet ministers may be able to limit the power of the PM
Describe the Cabinet
The PMs position relative to the cabinet has been described as ‘primus inter pares’ first among equals
However in more recent years the PM has moved away from the opinions of cabinet ministers and relied more on their own knowledge and skills. The PM has become more powerful.
The full cabinet can often do little more than formally approve the decisions of Cabinet Committees that are composed of the expert ministers on the subject matter dealt with by each committee
The PMs power may also be strengthened by the creation of a formal or informal inner cabinet which may consist of no more than the leading departmental ministers
Describe cabinet ministers
The foreign secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are the two most prestigious after the PM
The cabinet ministers are bound by the convention of collective ministerial responsibly, they have to publicly agree with the PMs decisions
Every minister is considered to have agreed to cabinet decisions, even those which are not unanimous
Name 2 other powers of the Prime Minister
They decide the date of the general election. They can chose to hold it whenever opinion polls suggest that the government will be re-elected
They also appear in the media due to technological progress. This enables them to personify the government in the minds of the electorate
