(3)Theories of executive power

Cabinet Government
1. The power is collective and not personal. It is located in the cabinet rather than the PM
2. The minister are all equal. Each of them has the capability to influence policy and shape the direction in what the government goes
3. It is in formal sense clearly outdated. It goes back to a period before the development of disciplined political party's in the commons
4. Ministerial resignations could, potentially, threaten the life of the government itself
  1. However as parties became became unified, this threat diminished
5. The primary loyalty of MPs shifted from individual cabinet members - patrons or friends - to there party
6. Executive Power:
  1. 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
  2. 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
1. 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
2. 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"
3. The core feature of this view is that it is the PM, and not the cabinet, who dominated both the executive and Parlaiemnt.
  1. This happens because the PM is both head of the civil service and the leader of the largest party in the Commons
4. Executive power
  1. It highlights the undoubted growth in the Prime- Ministerial power, particularly since 1945
  2. It acknowledges that the cabinet is no longer the key policy-making body
Presidentialism
1. This suggest that the UK PM increasingly resembles by a president, with PM such as Wilson, Thatcher and Blair usally being key example
2. Overlaps with the Prime ministeral government model. Most importantly, both views emphasize the dominanceof the PM over the cabinet
3. In no sense do US president share power with their cabinet. Rather US cabinet is a strictly subordinate body a mere "sound bound"
4. Evidence of growing presidentialism in UK political includes the following:
  1. Growth of "spatial leadership"
    1. 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
  2. Tendency towards "populist outreach"
    1. 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"
  3. Personalized election campaigns
    1. 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
  4. Personal mandates
    1. 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
  5. Wider use of special advisors.
    1. PMs increasingly rely on hand-picked political advisors rather than on cabinet, ministers and senior civil servants - personal loyalty to the PM
  6. Strengthened Cabinet Office
    1. 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
5. issues
  1. They can't become presidents because of the UK has a system of parliamentary government rather than presidentaial government
  2. For instance, the UK does not have a constitutional separation of powers between the legislative and executive
  3. Despite the growth of personalized election campaigning the UK, PM continue to be appointed as a result of parliamentary election
6. Executive powers
  1. It stress the growth of personalized leadership and draws attention to the important of the direct relationship between the PM and the people
  2. 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
1. Recongnoze that both the PM and Cabinet operate within the context of the "core executive" smith 1999
2. This sugget that:
  1. Neither the PM now Cabinet is an independent actor
  2. 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
  3. The balance of power within the core executive is affected by the resources available to its various actors
  4. Wider factors, such as economic and diplomatic developments, influence the workings of the core executive
3. executive power
  1. 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
  2. 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"

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(3)Theories of executive power

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	Created by Marcus Danvers about 10 years ago