the executive

what is the executive?

the branch of government responsible for policy making and policy implementation.

what comprises the executive?

• prime minister

• cabinet

• ministers

• government departments

what is the role of the executive?

• making policy decisions

  • they set political priorities and determine the country’s overall policy direction

• proposing legislation

  • the executive itself has law-making powers on secondary legislation

• proposing a budget

  • the executive makes key decisions on economic policy

  • chancellor sets out proposed levels of taxation and public spending in the budget

first power of the executive

prerogative powers- powers exercised by ministers that do not require parliamentary approval (most prerogative powers are exercised by ministers acting on behalf of the monarch)

name some examples of prerogative powers ( royal prerogative) (6)

• making and ratifying treaties

• international diplomacy

• deployment of the armed forces overseas

• PM’s patronage powers and ability to recommend dissolution of parliament

• organization of the civil service

• granting of pardons

examples of prerogative powers being limited

• became a constitutional convention that parliament votes against airstrikes on Syria in 2013 and then gave its approval in 2015

• prior to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, the prime minister could ask the monarch to dissolve parliament and call an early general election

  • now can only be called after a vote in HoC

• PM’s power to award honours and make public appointments restricted.

second power of the executive

control of legislative agenda

third power of the executive

powers of secondary legislation

• allows the provisions of an act of parliament to be brought into force or amended by ministers without requiring a further Act

what are the 8 roles of the prime minister?

• political leadership-PM decides the political direction taken by the government and determines policy on high profile issues

• national leadership-predominant political figure in times of crisis

• appointing govt-PM appoints and dismisses ministers

• chairing the cabinet-sets agenda of meetings, creates cabinet committees and holds bilateral meetings.

• managing the executive-responsible for the overall organisation of govt and head of civil service

• prerogative powers-exercises prerogative powers

• managing relations with parliament- makes statements to and answers qs in the HoC

• representing UK internationally

what are the 3 requirements for becoming PM?

1. must be an MP

2. must be leader of a political party

3. political party that he/she leads will normally have a majority in the commons

powers of the PM: what is patronage?

power of an individual to appoint someone to an important position

what does the power of patronage allow PMs to do?

enables them to alter the party balance within the Lords

• e.g. Blair increased Labour’s representation in the Lords by appointing 162 Labour peers

why may a PM consider ideological differences and balances when appointing govt ministers?

a cabinet that contains politicans from only one wing of a party may not have its full support of that party

for example:

• Thatcher included both dries and wets to her first cabinet but gave key positions to her allies

• New Labour politicians dominated Blair’s cabinets but Old Labour was appeased by the appointment of John Prescott as deputy PM

• most ministers in Theresa May’s first cabinet had campaigned to remain in 2016 eu ref, but Leave campaigners Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and David Davis were put in charge of departments that would deliver Brexit

why would a PM consider holding the coalition together when selecting cabinet ministers (specifically 2010)?

2010 coalition agreement required Cameron to appoint 5 Lib Dems to cabinet

what are cabinet reshuffles?

some ministers might be moved to another post and others may be dismissed entirely- allows PM to promote successful ministers and demote those who have underachieved

what is the issue with cabinet reshuffles?

may raise questions about the pM’s judgement, reveal cabinet divisions and highlight policy failings

For example, Harold Macmillan’s 1962 reshuffle- sacked 7 cabinet ministers

Margeret Thatcher’s demotion of Sir Geoffrey Howe ( foreign secretary) in 1989- triggered Thatcher’s downfall

how does the PM set the agenda of cabinet meetings?

• controls the info presented to ministers by determining which issues and papers should be brought before cabinet.

• keeping potentially difficult issues off the cabinet agenda

  • dealing with then in a cabinet committee or in a bilateral meeting

• deciding the chair, membership and remit of cabinet committees

how does the PM give policy-making input?

• PM has licence to get involved in issues across the political spectrum

  • Thatcher was involved in many policy fields

  • Falkladnds War-policy success

  • poll tax-policy failure

    • a PM with a strong interest in an issue can give it a central place

• PM is likely to set objectives, direct and coordinate policy in economic and foreign policy

• HOWVER PM needs support of senior ministers on major issues

  • e.g. Chancellor Nigel Lawson and foreign sec Geoffrey Hower forced Margaret Thatcher to shift government policy on ERM in 1989- threatened to resign if she didn’t.

• 2010 coalition-limited Cameron’s room for control

  • however he set the overall policy agenda

    • e.g. deficit reduction strategy

    • he determined responses to emerging issues-e.g. military intervention in Libya in 2011

is party leadership important in bringing power to the PM?

• a working majority in parliament strengthens their position because they are better able to enact the government’s programme

  • HOWEVER-increased incidence of rebellion-perhaps PM cannot always rely on party’s support

for example:

• Conservative-Lib Dem coalition proposals on HoL reform was dropped after a rebellion by Conservative MPS

• rebellions EU issues contributed to Cameron’s decision to promise a referendum on membership

cabinet ministers

• consists of senior ministers in the government

• limited to 22 cabinet minsters

• most cabinet ministers are heads of government departments

  • most important departments-Treasury, Foreign Office and Home Office

• cabinet ministers must be members of parliament

how long are usual cabinet meetings?

• length and frequency has fallen since 1950s

  • used to be twice a week-only once a week now

• length of meetings varies with PM

  • under Blair-lasted about an hour

what are cabinet committees?

sub committees of the cabinet appointed by the PM to consider aspects of govt business

PM is responsible for the creation, membership and chairmanship of these committees. the PM can establish committees to examine issues that are pressing concerns

what are cabinet committees used for ?

when a final verdict has not been reached in the cabinet

why were the use of cabinet committees revived?

• cabinet committees were given greater priority following criticism of Blair’s preference for informal meetings

• revided under 2010 Coalition

• structure was streamlined in 2016-5 committees and 10 sub-committees

what is the cabinet office?

a govt department responsible for supporting the cabinet system and the PM and managing the civil service

why was the cabinet office created?

to provide support for the cabinet system

what does the cabinet office do?

key unit is the Cabinet secretariat- regulates and coordinates cabinet business: calls meetings, circulates papers, prepares agenda and writes the minutes of meetings.secretariat also coordinates work on issues that bridge departments

what are the four functions of cabinet

• registering and ratifying decisions taken elsewhere int he cabinet system

• discussing and making decisions on major issues

• receiving reports on key developments and determinging government business in parliament

• settling disputes between government departments

what is prime-ministerial government?

a system of government in which the prime minister is the dominant actor in the executive

the cabinet is able to advise and warn the PM, but does not decide policy

what is a cabinet government?

a system of government in which executive power is vested in a cabinet whose members exercise collective responsibility, rather than in a single office

Walter Bagehot described a system of cabiet government in which the pm was ‘first among equals’ (in his classic text ‘The English Constitution’

why is the argument for prime ministerial government or cabinet government flawed?

power is not located exclusively in one or the other- it is shared

power as PM also varies according to external factors (e.g. policy success, govt popularity)and political context maters

what did Prof George Jones propose as a theory of prime-ministerial power?

elastic band is an image of how prime-ministerial power is not static but vaires over time.

e.g. Thatcher stretched her elastic band with her dominant leadership-however she stretched it too far

arguments FOR the idea that the PM has become presidential

• personalised leaderhsip

• public outreach

  • leaders have become public commodities

• spatial leadership

  • sense of distance created between the PM and his/her govt party-reliance is on inner circle f advisers than on the cabinet system

  • e.g. Blair’s ‘sofa government’

• PMs appeal to the public directly, through the media and claim a personal mandate from the electorate

arguments AGAINST the idea that the PM has become presidential

• the PM leads but cannot commands the executive- they direct rather than controls agenda

• senior ministers have resources of their own, including support from government departments

• PM needs full support of ministers to achieve their objectives

• support from party is not unconditional- unpopular leaders face concentrated efforts to be removed

example of Thatcher’s presidentialism

• won 3 elections for her party

• removed ‘wets’ from her cabinet

HOWEVER- her influence was undermined by poll tax, and there was a personality clash between her and Heseltine

example of Blair’s presidentialism

• won three elections for his party

  • 1997-179 majority

  • 2001-167 majority

• was not defeated in the Commons for 8 years

  • bypassed cabinet with ‘sofa govt’

  • ignored rebllions about Iraq

HOWEVER cabinet forced him to step down early in 2007

example of Cameron’s presidentialism

• key decisions made in the ‘Quad’ between Cameron and three key cabinet members bypassed the rest of cabinet

• However, was dependent on Clegg to hold coalition together

  • had to have 5 Lib Dems in his cabonet

example of May’s presidentialism

• Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy had a lot of influence- weakened the strength of cabinet

HOWEVER, Hill and Timothy

were forced to resign after the

2017 election. May also faced a

personality clash with Johnson

(she could not sack him due to

her weak position), and several

cabinet resignations which led to

former ministers making trouble

on the backbenches. Brexit

meant that the cabinet was

ideologically split.

what is the role of government ministers

• policy leadership

• representing departmental interests

• departmental management

• relations with parliament

where are government departments located

Whitehall area of London

what are the function of government departments

• providing policy advice to ministers

• managing public spending

• fostering relationships with interested parties, such as pressure groups

• policy implementation

examples of government departments

• Ministry of Defence

• Department for Health

• The Treasury

• The Attorney General’s Office (provides legal advice to the govt)

what are civil servants?

an official employed in a civil capacity by the Crown, responsible for policy advice or policy implementation- they have several advantages over ministers

what are the four principles of civil service?

• impartiality

• anonymity

• permanence

  • civil servants stay in their posts when there is a change in govt

• meritocracy

  • civil servants are recruited through thorough exams and interviews

what are special advisers

a temporary political appointment made by a govt minister- employed as temporary civil servants

in 2015, there were 93 special advisers across government, more than double the number in early 1990s

what are spin doctors?

a special adviser employed to promote the image of the minister and his or her policy in the media