POLS 224 - The Prime Minister and Cabinet

Political executive

1. Prime minister and cabinet

2. The Prime Minister can command the confidence of the House of Commons

3. Cabinet solidarity

   1. Supposed to defend cabinet positions

4. Ministerial responsibilities

   1. Responsible for the goings on in their department - if something happens, they're the one to go to

Changing power of the Prime Minister

1. Originally, “first among equals” ministers

2. Strict party discipline has made all party leaders (particularly the PM) the “boss” of the parliamentary parties

3. Central agencies give the PM enormous power over the civil service

4. Media focus: the media concentrates its coverage on the PM rather than on other ministers or the parliament

Issues for the responsibility of the Government

1. Recall that the responsibilities of the executive mean that the political executive has the confidence of the House of Commons

2. Strict party discipline inverts this relationship in a majority government setting

3. Weakened ministerial responsibility has also contributed to the above

De facto powers of appointment - The PM has considerable power to appoint:

1. Cabinet ministers

2. Senators

3. Heads of the Crown Corps.

4. Heads of regulatory agencies

5. Government generals

6. Diplomats

7. Federal and Supreme Court justices

8. And many more

Cabinet organizations (leadership style of the PM in question)

1. Collegial cabinet

   1. Collective decisions are made collectively by cabinet ministers

      1. ex. Mulroney

2. Conglomerate cabinet

   1. Have some powerful, independent ministers, and have overarching, powerful control over regions.

      1. ex. King

3. Corporate cabinet (the CEO’s)

   1. Top-down hierarchical structure

      1. ex. Jean Chretien

4. Command structure

   1. PM is mostly making policy through the PMO

      1. ex. Harper

Central agencies (pyramid)

• Answer to PM

• Outside the normal line/operating department structure of civil service

• Do not deliver goods and services

  • Job 1 - Help civil service respond to political direction

  • Job 2 - horizontal coordination - ensure line departments are not pursuing conflicting policies)

1. Political ministers

2. Deputy minister (half politics, half ) communicates

3. Assistant deputy ministers

4. Directors

5. Managers Frontline (passport workers)

Department of Finance (second more power to PM)

1. Responsible for economic policy

2. Perp of annual budget

3. Trade and taxation policy

4. Int. borrowing

5. Regulatory scheme for the financial sector

6. General monitor of the economy

   1. Employment

   2. Growth

   3. Income

   4. Inflation levels

   5. Coordinates all policies that will have an economic impact

7. Set the tone for spending initiatives

Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS)

1. It is a cabinet committee made up of ministers and senior civil servants

2. Administrative arm of this committee

3. Non-partisan advice (what's good for the country)

   1. Financial

   2. Material

   3. Human resources

4. Acts like a general manager, manager of another government department

5. Is the employer of the civil servants

6. Does the department conduct audits

7. Ensures uniform account practices across the government

8. Government program evaluation

9. Prepares the estimates (line by line) on how the parliament will spend money

Privy Council Office (PCO)

1. Cabinet secretariat

2. Non-parison advice across all policy areas

3. Coordinate gov policy

4. Support gov Properly

5. Help support the legislative agenda

Prime Minister's Office (PMO)

1. Supported by Parison staffers loyal to the PM

   1. Give parison advice across all gov policy areas

   2. PM's personal staff

   3. PM correspondents

   4. PM schedule

   5. Write PM speeches

Departmentalized Cabinet (Pre-1960s)

Ministers had substantial autonomy over their own departments

Institutionalized Cabinet (1960s-1970s)

Rise of cabinet committee systems and collective planning under Trudeau Sr

Court Government (1980s-Present)

power shifts away from Cabinet to “court”- the PM, PMO, PCO, and Finance

• Key concept: Power no longer flows from ministers; it flows from the PM, and unevenly at that.

National Unity & Crises

e.g., Quebec referendums.

Fiscal Control

Spending reviews (1990s & 2010s) are driven centrally by PM & Finance, not Cabinet consensus.

24/7 Media & Leader-Centric Campaigns

Elections focus almost exclusively on party leaders, making the party indebted to the PM.

Polling & Digital Tech

PMs rely on private polling over regional ministers to gauge public opinion.

Globalization

International summits (G7, G20, APEC) require direct leader- to-leader dealmaking.