The most senior members are the prime minister, secretaries of state, Ministers of state and parliamentary under-secretaries. The Prime minister has the duty of being in charge and selects the other members of government. There are many important departments in central government and they all are crucial but are different roles in controlling the country. The departments include home office and department of health, but also involve sport and media and the department of culture. These departments are ruled by Secretaries state that has complete liability and are staffed by impartial civil servants who get their income from money provided by parliament.
Discuss the sources of prime ministerial power and explain in what ways it can be limited (25 marks) The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is customarily the leader of the party with a majority in the House of Commons or, as is currently the case, the leader of the largest party in a coalition and therefore is the leader of Her Majesty's Government. The sources of prime ministerial power are Royal Prerogative, the individual abilities, qualities and circumstances of, or pertaining to, the Prime Minister, and that of the office of Prime Minister. Royal Prerogative is a series of powers and responsibilities which initially (and legally still) belonged to the Monarch but after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, placing the powers to declare war, form treaties and bestow patronage, such as appointing Peers to the House of Lords and promoting and demoting Civil Servants. Each Prime Minister wields a set of powers unique to themselves, based upon their charisma, personality, intelligence and popular mandate or lack thereof. Tony Blair was a charismatic man, a clever ‘spin doctor’ and after each election he also possessed a large mandate which allowed him to dominate his cabinet for some time.
In the US the executive branch is associated with the President, the Vice President, Executive Departments, and Agencies. In both the UK and the US the executive is by far the most popular branch of the government, being constantly in the media’s spotlight. However it seems to be an overstatement to suggest that in the UK the executive dominates everything, it could be argued that it dominates most political areas and that it has sufficiently more power than the US executive. There are multiple reasons for why this is the case. The constitutional status of the executives is a crucial factor.
It has been argued though, that we now have Prime Ministerial Government as opposed to Cabinet Government, due to the shift in power towards the Prime Minister over the years from Thatcher to Blair. More important than head of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister is the leader of the
President Seven Vital Functions/Roles: 1. Chief Legislator- The president can recall Congress into a special session and can veto the bills passed by Congress. 2. Party Leader- It is the most important domestic role and the president is a symbolic leader for the party members and asserts influence in the party’s operations by selecting the national party chair and serving as the party’s premier fund-raiser. 3.
To answer this question one has to first describe and provide reasons for the rules which govern the legislative powers of the House of Lords in comparison to those of the House of Commons. To properly appreciate the rules one should determine the composition of the people who are subject to the rules first. Each member of the House of Commons represents a constituent of the UK and is voted for by that constituent, voting takes place once every term of parliament. Members of the House of Lords are selected not on a voting basis and are chosen from one of the two following methods. Hereditary members are those who inherit their status as from their family, non-hereditary members are chosen by the prime minister in recognition to their expertise to become life peers.
If Dicey’s theory is placed in historical context, it was produced in a very different political environment to today. Political parties were not dominant then as they are today and their influence has greatly increased. The executive branch of government is much more dominant today and international influences have changed over the years. The development of the European Union has placed Britain under many constraints. Government has also grown since the decade that Dicey was writing as Laws are made
Since 1997, the government was conservative for 18 years and wanted to reform the House of Lords. This was successfully achieved by the removal of heredity peers from their voting rights. However, Devolution for Scotland has been the most successful constitutional reform overall since 1997 because it has been able to achieve much more than expected e.g. gain more power. Scotland felt it needed more power and
This is because there are many stages which the bill must go through which includes the House of Lords stage by which the bill may be rejected or amended (this may only occur three times). The final stage in the Royal Ascent is the process by which the queen signs the bill. The Act of Parliament has now gone into the statute book and must now be obeyed by all citizens of the UK. Due to the large amount of time it takes to pass bills the House of Commons does not fulfil is function effectively. As well as this the leading party will always have the majority in parliament, meaning it will almost always be able to push through its legislation.
Party's can rely on their loyal MPs to vote in favour of their bills, for example; from 1997-2005 Blair's government didn't lose a single vote in the House of Commons because he had such a high majority. The efficiency of this majority also means the government is able to act quickly and decisively in an emergency, where as if there was no single party with popular support, legislation could be chaotic and it would be difficult to come to a decision. For example, the Terrorism Act of 1999 was passed in just 48