During May 2002 the Labour party went through a cabinet reshuffle. The effect of this reshuffle saw Lord Macdonald become head of the cabinet office even though Lord Macdonald was not part of the cabinet, not being part of the cabinet meant that Lord Macdonald only answered to the Prime Minister which at the time was Tony Blair. This was an elevation in resources for the Prime Minister alone which sidelined the rest of the cabinet as
Parliament is almost the only source of legislation. When a party wins the general election, a government is formed consisting of various parties. This government then makes laws that become acts of parliament, the legislation, if having been passed by parliament. Most bills that are passed by parliament are government bills, however, some bills that are passed through parliament are private members bills, for example, the abolition of hanging in 1967 by Sydney Silverman. There are also private bills which normally only affect certain private interests and can be introduced by MPs, usually on behalf of a company.
People believe this is down to the party’s history; the Labour Party originated from the trade union movement at the turn of the 20th century and originally had a chairman of the Labour MPs in the House of Commons, but no leader. A bad experience of excessive leadership power in 1931 made the party members reluctant to recognise the supremacy of the leader over the labour movement. Labour has always wanted to ensure that the leader is accountable which has led to restrictions on the power of the leader after the 1918 constitution. For example, when in opposition, leaders must work with a shadow cabinet and the membership of which has to have been elected by MPs. This argument shows that the leader of the Labour Party may have restrictions on his or her powers when in opposition as they are made to work with a shadow cabinet hence delegating power.
The responsibilities are opening parliament, dissolving parliament at election time, appointing the prime minister, appointing peers, approving laws and advising and providing guidance to the prime minister. House of commons: there are 646 elected members of parliament called MPs. They have responsibilities such as, making laws, controlling finance, creating delegated legislation, scrutinising decisions, protecting the rights of individuals and examining proposals from Europe. house of lords: they have a variable number of members, it is currently 724. Responsibilities of the lords include creating laws, scrutinising decisions and offering independent expertise.
More dominant figures such as Thatcher and Blair have capitalised heavily on both strength of their personality and their parliamentary majorities. The creation of a more developed policy unit in Downing Street is effectively creating a "Prime Minister's Department". However it can be argued that the prime minister such as Tony blair, has not got a chance of effectively being a president, for example he prefered to dominate foreign and international affairs. The individuals of the UK, could argue that instead of focusing on other countries such as Pakistans, Afghanistan, he should of helped the UK more, improving and making it a better place to live in. An example of where this is present is, he distanced himself from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office so cut himself off from civil servants that could have questioned his views.
Is Cabinet Government Dead? Cabinet government is a system of government in which executive power is concentrated in the cabinet, which is made up of heads of government departments, who exercise collective responsibility. Traditionally, within government the Prime Minister is ‘primus inter pares’ or ‘first among equals’ which reinsures the fact that he is a minister, not a president, of which some Prime Ministers may seem to appear. The cabinet fulfils many functions, these may have changed overtime but the principle functions include making policy decisions. Overtime, the role of the cabinet may have increasingly been seen to be less and this may have changed peoples’ perception on the system of government used in the UK.
The government will make their own decision whether other opposition parties disagree with them; the government in power still make their own decision. Example of this is, when after Labour victory in 1997, the New Labour administration established an Independent Commission on Electoral Reform under Lord Jenkins. Lord Jenkins’ recommendation that AV should be introduced for UK general elections after a disappointed that many fellows of Liberal Democrats had. Liberal Democrats felt that STV might be more effective in addressing the flaws in the current FPTP system. Despite of this, Labour decided not to move ahead with the reforms.
The committee system, the core of Congress’s organization, consists of standing committees, each of which has its own policy jurisdiction, membership, and authority to act. Committees’ policy jurisdictions allow legislators who are members of those committees disproportionate influence on the policies that matter most to them and their constituents. Considered as agents of the overall House or Senate chamber, committees are delegated, first, the authority to act as gatekeepers to determine what policies will be considered, and second, the after-the-fact authority to follow up on the fate of policy proposals by serving on conference committees and, subsequently, overseeing the policy’s implementation. Congressional power is, in part, a function of its capacity to effectively represent important groups and constituencies in society, but its position and power have suffered as presidents came increasingly to be seen as
The Senate, or upper house, is defined as an assembly or council of citizens having the highest deliberative functions in a government, especially a legislative assembly of a state or nation. The Senate holds two representatives for each state of the United States. The powers of the Senate are detailed in article one of the United States Constitution. The purpose of the Senate is to represent each state to the fullest in the
Were he to be defeated in a confidence vote, he would still be unable to dissolve. He would have to resign and the Queen would have to summon Ed Miliband. Then, only if Miliband were unable to form a government would there be an election. It is perhaps surprising that Labour has not done more to woo the Liberal Democrats away from the