The Prime Minister & Cabinet

The Government
1. All members must sit in parliament as well as being ministers
2. MP's from the party that is in government are not members, they are known as back - benchers
3. All members of the government are appointed by the prime minister
4. All government are bound by collective responsibility
5. The whole government never meet together in one body
Ministerial Selection
1. They must be politically reliable and willing to accept collective responsibility
2. Junior ministers must have potential
3. Must have some sort of strong political philosophy they are willing to put into practice
4. Potential ministers must have managerial skills
Cabinet Government
1. Remaining functions of the cabinet
  1. Settling ministerial disputes
  2. Making decisions that cannot be made elsewhere
  3. Dealing with domestic emergencies
  4. Legitimising decisions made elsewhere
  5. Settling coalition disputes
2. Weaknesses of cabinet
  1. Prime minister is now dominant
  2. Most decisions are made in committee
  3. Meetings are shorter and stage managered
  4. Large departments have become more independent
  5. More decisions are made in bilateral meetings
  6. Much decision making has moved to 10 downing street organisation
Functions of the Prime Minister
1. Chief policy maker
  1. Must try and seek wide spread approval
2. Head of government
  1. In charge of the machinery of the government
  2. Can appoint and create roles
3. Chief government spokesperson
  1. Ultimate source to the media
  2. Can create the illusion that the PM creates ALL policy
4. Commander in chief of the armed forces
  1. Whether or not to commit to battle
  2. e.g Tony Blair & Iraq
5. Chief foreign policy maker
  1. Negotiating etc.
  2. EU
  3. Tony Blair well known for this
6. Parliamentary leader
  1. Lead his party in parliament
Sources of Prime Ministerial Power
1. The ruling party
  1. The PM may have support from his party in and out of government
  2. Party has elective authority
  3. PM's authority stems from this
2. The royal prerogative
  1. Generally maintaining the security of the state
  2. Appoint and dismiss ministers
3. Popular mandate
  1. General election vote
  2. Authority of the electorate
4. Parliament
  1. Parliamentary leader
  2. Becoming dominant
Is the Prime Minister now a President?
1. Yes
  1. PM's perform most of the functions of head of state
  2. 10 Downing street increasingly resembles the formation of the White house (inner circle)
  3. The media tend to concentrate on the PM
  4. Foreign and military affairs controlled by PM
  5. Spatial leadership looks more presidential
2. No
  1. There has been no permanent change
  2. There has been more change to substance not the actual role of PM
  3. There are main forces that will always remain PM powers
  4. The PM is still not actually head of state even though he appears to be
Ministers & Civil Servants
1. Ministers
  1. Set the political agenda
  2. Determine priorities for action
  3. Decide between political alternatives
  4. Obtain approval for policies
  5. Steer proposals through parliament
  6. Be accountable to parliament
  7. Account to parliament about their general performance
  8. Politically committed to one party
  9. Only temporary
  10. high public profile
2. Civil Servants
  1. gather info for policy making
  2. Provide alternative courses of action
  3. Advise on consequences of decisions
  4. Draft legislation
  5. Provide briefings for other ministers
  6. Organise
  7. Draft answers to PM questions
  8. may only be neutral
  9. Expected to be anonymous
  10. Cannot be accountable

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The Prime Minister & Cabinet

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