Does Britain have a presidential or a cabinet style government? - page 1
Keywords: britain uk government presidential prime ministerial cabinet executive
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: A Level (Year 12) / AS Level
Page Number: 1 of 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
Under the arguments of both Walter Bagehot and Richard Crossman, a constant debate wages in regards to the British political system; does an autocratic Prime Minister reign, or is a more democratic Cabinet Government in power? Each side of this dispute is supported by contrasting points, and so it is difficult to state that either is completely true.
Bagehot, writing it the late 19th century, claimed that the State was in the hands of a governing party’s Cabinet. The Cabinet is a collection of ministers, selected from the Houses of Commons and Lords (though, this is not a legal necessity), and acts as the central policy making body within the Government. It determines the general government programme and short-term agendas; all decisions from Cabinet are considered official government policy. Cabinet is responsible for settling disagreements between ministers and departments, and determining the government reaction to national crisis. It also has the authority to ratify recommendations from Cabinet Committees, ministers and even the Prime Minister (though it is not known to discuss these recommendations in much detail). Though these roles are often interpreted as limited, they are undoubtedly still apparent to some degree.
Since 1945, Britain’s loss of Empire and decline in relative international standing, the government’s diminished control of the economy and utilities and the “hollowing-out” of the States, because of the loss powers to the European Union, Scottish Parliament, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee and other agencies, have reduced the writ of the Prime Minster. Realistically, a modern day Prime Minister “cannot have the world impact of a Pitt, a Disraeli, a Gladstone, a Lloyd George or a Churchill” (William Rees-Mogg) and, historically, with the weakening of a Prime Ministerial position seems to come a strengthening of the Cabinet’s influence.
Under Tony Blair, the authority of the Cabinet was very much disregarded, possibly one of his more dangerous decisions. The Butler Report of 2004 revealed that Margaret Thatcher used her Cabinet as a discursive, or argumentative, body, whereas John Major utilised it in order to get key ministers in line (for example, when ending the Poll Tax). Whilst these roles seem demeaning to the supposed power of the Cabinet, the sway it possessed was still clearly evident. Unlike his predecessor, Gordon Brown has realised that undermining the Cabinet does nothing in the way of Party support, and so has verbally admitted that he hopes to reinstate the former position of Cabinet. Brown
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