The Executive - Different Types of Government and PM

Cabinet Or Prime-Ministerial Government:
  • Cabinet Government: A system of government in which executive power is vested in a cabinet, whose members exercise collective cabinet responsibility rather than single office.
  • Prime-Ministerial Government: A system of government in which the prime minister is the dominate actor and is able to bypass the cabinet.
  • Walter Bagehot said we were in a of cabinet government in which the PM is “first among equals” (primus inter pares) but decision making was a collective endeavour.
  • At the end of the 20th century, the powers of the PM had expanded and it seemed to be that we were in a prime-ministerial government.
  • Power is not held by one, it is shared. Decline in the power of the cabinet does not inevitably mean that the PM is dominate.
  • The PM needs the support of cabinet ministers
When Is The PM Predominate:
Pre-Eminent:
  1. Legal head of government e.g appointing ministers
  2. Leadership of the government e.g setting policy agenda
  3. PM office
  4. Setting the political agenda e.g through the party and the media
  • Thatcher and Blair are examples of this
Predominant:
  1. Leadership ability and reputation
  2. Association with political success
  3. Electoral popularity
  4. A high standing within the party
  • Brown and Cameron are examples of this
Has The PM Become Presidential:
  • Personalised Leadership: PM has a dominate political personality who stamps his/hers imprint on the government and imposes a personal vision. Thatcher allowed her ideology to set the political agenda whilst Cameron and Blair tried to modernise the party. Introduction of TV debates in 2010 reinforced the focus on party leaders
  • Public Outreach: The media spotlight falls onto the PM more than any other minister. PM is expected to connect with the popular mood. They claim to represent the public and take their message directly to the public through the popular media, Blair and Cameron were good at this.
  • Spatial Leadership: A PM relies more on his/hers inner circle of advisers than the cabinet such as Blair’s “sofa government” and the ‘Quad’ (Cameron, Clegg, Osborne and Alexander). Blair and Cameron presented themselves as outsiders in their own parties.

Has The Prime Minister Become More Presidential:
Yes
No:
Leadership in the executive has been personalised with the PM expected to impose his or her personality and agenda.
PM leads but cannot command the executive particularly in coalition and directs rather than controls the agenda
PM increasingly relies on a close circle of senior ministers and advisers.
Senior ministers have resources of their own, including support from government departments
PM have created a ‘strategic space’ between themselves and their governments distancing themselves from other actors in the executive.
PM needs the support ministers and officials to achieve his or her objective.
PM appeal to the public directly through the media and claim a personal mandate from the electorate.
PM position is strong only if he or she enjoys policy success and popular approval and makes effective use of his/hers personal ability.
PM have additional authority as party leaders, where they are elected by MPs and members and exercise personal leaderships.
Support from the party is not unconditional and unpopular leaders face concerted efforts to remove them.
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