A level (PM, Cabinet and the Executive) Governing the UK - 2C Mapa Mental sobre (3)Theories of executive power, creado por Marcus Danvers el 06/02/2014.
The power is collective and not personal. It
is located in the cabinet rather than the PM
The minister are all equal. Each of them has
the capability to influence policy and shape
the direction in what the government goes
It is in formal sense clearly outdated. It goes
back to a period before the development of
disciplined political party's in the commons
Ministerial resignations could, potentially,
threaten the life of the government itself
However as parties became became
unified, this threat diminished
The primary loyalty of MPs shifted
from individual cabinet members -
patrons or friends - to there party
Executive Power:
It provides a reminder that, despite the
growth in PM power, no PM can survive if
he or she loses the support of the cabinet
It kept alive by the fact that the PM authority is linked to the backing
from the "big beasts" of the cabinet, some of whom my enjoy such
widespread support from government or party, effectively "unsackable."
Prime-ministerial government
20th century progressive awareness of the growing power of a PM. This
can be traced back to the 19th century and the development of disciplined
political parties, enabled the PM to use the leverage of party leadership
PM can no longer be dismissed as "first
amongst equals if the focus of party loyalty
focus on them as the opposed to his "equals"
The core feature of this view is that it is
the PM, and not the cabinet, who dominated
both the executive and Parlaiemnt.
This happens because the PM is both
head of the civil service and the leader
of the largest party in the Commons
Executive power
It highlights the undoubted
growth in the Prime- Ministerial
power, particularly since 1945
It acknowledges that the
cabinet is no longer the
key policy-making body
Presidentialism
This suggest that the UK PM increasingly
resembles by a president, with PM such as Wilson,
Thatcher and Blair usally being key example
Overlaps with the Prime ministeral government
model. Most importantly, both views emphasize
the dominanceof the PM over the cabinet
In no sense do US president share power with
their cabinet. Rather US cabinet is a strictly
subordinate body a mere "sound bound"
Evidence of growing presidentialism
in UK political includes the following:
Growth of "spatial leadership"
This is the tendency of PMs to distance themselves from
their parties and governments by presenting themselves as
"outsiders" or developing a personal ideological stance
Tendency towards "populist outreach"
This is the tendency of PMs to try to "reach out" directly
to the public by claiming to articulate their deepest hopes
and fears. It is evident in the growing tendency of the PM
to speak for the nation over major events, political crises
or simply high-profile news stories - "cult of the outsider"
Personalized election campaigns
The mass media increasingly portrays elections as
personalized battles between the PM and the leader of the
opposition. Party leaders thus become the "brand image" of
their parties or government, meaning that personality and image
have become major determinants of political success or failure
Personal mandates
This is the trend for PM to claim popular authority on the basic of
their electoral success. PMs have therefore become the ideological
conscience of their party or government - policy direction
Wider use of
special advisors.
PMs increasingly rely on hand-picked political
advisors rather than on cabinet, ministers and
senior civil servants - personal loyalty to the PM
Strengthened Cabinet Office
The size and administrative resource available to the
Cabinet Office have grown, tunring it into a small-scale PMs
department responsible for coordinating the rest of Whitehall
issues
They can't become presidents because of the
UK has a system of parliamentary government
rather than presidentaial government
For instance, the UK does not have a
constitutional separation of powers
between the legislative and executive
Despite the growth of personalized election
campaigning the UK, PM continue to be
appointed as a result of parliamentary election
Executive powers
It stress the growth of personalized leadership and
draws attention to the important of the direct
relationship between the PM and the people
It highlights the growing political significance of the
mass media in affecting power balances within the
executive and within the larger political system
Core executive model
Recongnoze that both the PM and
Cabinet operate within the context
of the "core executive" smith 1999
This sugget that:
Neither the PM now Cabinet
is an independent actor
each of them exercises influence in and through a
network of relationships, formal and informal. This brings
a range of other actors and institutions into the picture
The balance of power within the core
executive is affected by the resources
available to its various actors
Wider factors, such as economic and
diplomatic developments, influence the
workings of the core executive
executive power
It emphasizes that prime ministerial power is not only
constrained by collegiality, but also by the need operate
within a complex of organization and procedures
It highlights that power within the executive is more
about building relationships with key bodies and actors
than simply being a matter of "command and control"