The Prime Minister's formal powers
The Prime Minister's formal powers Abbas Ameli One of the most important powers of the Prime Minister is the ability to appoint or dismiss ministers. This power enables the prime minister to reward those who show loyalty, competence and the ability, by promoting them and offering them highly-ranked positions in the government- such as Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Home Office. In fact, one of the examples in this case is the promise Tony Blair made to Gordon Brown in 1995 that in return for his standing down from the Labour party leadership contest, Tony Blair will appoint Gordon Brown as the Chancellor once the Labour party gains power and Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister. The Prime minister can also use its powers to punish those who do not comply by the leader's rules and prove disloyal to him, or show signs of incompetence. Peter Mandelson for example, was dropped twice from Tony Blair's cabinet before being brought back as European commissioner. There are however, some constraints as to which the Prime Minister can exercise his powers in making changes to the cabinet. The prime minister needs the cabinet's support on major and/or controversial issues. He is therefore unable to behave in a completely free manner with his ministers. Moreover, senior ministers have authority and may challenge the prime minister's preferred policy. Another significant power in
In what ways might reform of the voting system bring electoral advantage to the conservative party?
In what ways might reform of the voting system bring electoral advantage to the conservative party? At first glance this proposition might sound quite ridiculous. Not only has first-past-the-post served the Conservative party extremely well for most of the 20th century, but the Conservative's have always been the most outspoken opponents of electoral reform. Thanks entirely to first-past-the-post, the Conservative Party have been in power for two-thirds of the last century. However, the 1997 general election has brought dramatic change to the political landscape. It is generally accepted that first-past-the-post over-represents the two main parties at the expense of the other parties. In four consecutive elections from 1979 to 1992, 42% of the popular vote was enough to give the Conservatives a significant majority of seats in the House of Commons. In each of these cases Labour, the second party was also over-rewarded in seats. This was particularly noticeable in 1983 when Labour won only 28% of the vote, but still managed a significant proportion of seats. It was therefore very unusual in 1997 when the Conservatives, the second party, were under-represented in parliament. The extremes of this were seen in Scotland, Wales and most of the big cities outside of London, where the Conservatives received absolutely no representation. It is under these unusual circumstances that
The system of government in the United Kingdom (UK) is very different to many other countries.
The system of government in the United Kingdom (UK) is very different to many other countries. There are only a few other countries besides the UK (New Zealand and Israel are the others) which do not have a 'written' constitution. Due to this lack of a written document the UK looks for its sources of constitution in (amongst other things) conventions. First, it may be necessary to define what we mean when we say that the UK does not have as such, a written constitution and whether this means that the UK has a constitution at all. This type of approach is known as abstract (as opposed to concrete) and many have attempted to define and justify that despite this the UK still has a constitution despite it not being in a written form. One such definition is that a constitution is: 'the whole system of government of a country, the collection of rules which establish and regulate or govern the government.'1 Judging from this definition it would appear that the UK does have a constitution, as a constitution does not necessarily have to be in a written form. When considering this 'unwritten' UK constitution it is necessary, not to look at what form this 'constitution' takes, but more importantly to look at the system of government as a whole and how these 'rules' interact between the government and the citizens which they govern. As mentioned previously, the UK does not look
Role of a team leader
In this task I will describe the role of a team leader, including the responsibilities they have and the skills and qualities needed. I will also consider the Uniformed Public Services find it necessary to work in teams giving examples. Team leader role Team leaders can be appointed in many different ways, for example through: * Promotion * Nomination * Election * Delegation * Volunteering Some people make better leaders than others, however, as long as someone is interested and willing, with an idea of how to communicate well, understand the needs of others, offer support and be flexible, then they have the basics to develop their leadership skills. One example of a leader position within a uniformed public service is that of a Commanding Officer (CO). The CO is the officer in command of a military unit, post, cam, base or station. He or she has authority over the unit and is given legal powers, within the bounds of military law, to discipline and punish certain behaviour. A CO has a range of significant responsibilities with regard to the allocation of service personnel, finances and equipment. They are accountable to the higher ranks and have a legal duty of care to the team. COs are highly valued and progression within the service is awarded to the best officers who have worked their way up the ranks. Position and responsibilities There are many functions of a
Leadership styles
In this task I will describe leadership styles and their use in the uniformed public services. I will include examples of public service situations when each style may be used. I will also compare different leadership styles used in the uniformed public services, evaluate the effectiveness and draw conclusions about why this is the case and consider whether the styles make the team leader effective or not and why. Leadership Styles A leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction for a team, implementing plans and motivating people to complete a task. There are several different leadership styles, each with advantages and disadvantages. The public services are constantly changing in response to changes in public expectations, the law and the current political environment and so the styles of leadership they use change and evolve too. Authoritarian leadership - is a very direct leadership style where the leader tells the team members what they must do. Sometimes this style is also described as autocratic. It is often considered a classic leadership style and is used when a leader wishes to retain as much power as possible and maintain control over the decision making process. It involves the leader telling the team members what they must do without any form of consultation or negotiation. Team members are expected to obey orders without receiving any
Describe the methods by which Parliament creates statutes.
ASSIGNMENT A . Describe the methods by which Parliament creates statutes. Statues are laws made by Parliament and are otherwise known as Acts of Parliament. In practical terms, however, laws are not created by a single 'act' but rather through a lengthy and thorough process. In this essay, I will outline the legislative process and describe the methods by which Acts of Parliament, or statutes, are created. Every statutory law begins life as a Bill. A Bill is a draft Act of Parliament and it could have a number of sources. Most Bills are introduced by the current Government in power at the time, and they attempt to meet the promises made during their election campaign in their manifesto. Bills introduced by parliament are known as public Bills. Ministers and their civil servants are responsible for the content of Bills. Private Bills, by contrast, are created by an individual or by an organisation outside of Parliament. For example, a local authority wishing to build a new development might propose a Private Bill. If an individual MP wishes to put forward a Bill, then it is called a Private Member's Bill. These often fail to make it as an Act of Parliament without widespread support. However, some important legislation has originated in a Private Member's Bill. An example would be The Murder (abolition of death penalty) Act 1965 which successfully abolished the
Voting Behaviour
Lila Muneer Voting Behaviour a) Explain the term partisan alignment used in the extract. Partisan alignment is the long-term loyalty of voters to a particular political party due to a correlation of identity between both voter and that party. In the 1950's the majority of working class voters voted Labour and the majority of the middle class vote went to the Conservatives. In 1950 90% of voters voted for the two main parties, this increased to 96% in 1955, showing the partisan alignment of voters in the 1950's. In recent times there is evidence of partisan de-alignment, in 1964 45% of voters felt a strong allegiance to either the Conservative or Labour party. By 1979 this had decreased to 21% and in 2001 it had fallen to 13%, showing voters' recent partisan de-alignment. b) Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, explain how party leaders have become more central to the election campaign. During the early post war era people were wedded to their parties on the basis of long-term influences such as social class and socialisation, these factors would have been of greater importance than the party leader because regardless of the current leader the ideology that led the voter to identify with the party would remain intact. In the current media age it is important that the party leader has a good image as many voters will only see the party through the eyes of the
Draft a memorandum to the government evaluating the merits and demerits of differing reform options for the composition and powers of the House of Lords
Bhupinder Kaur Kaler Group M Draft a memorandum to the government evaluating the merits and demerits of differing reform options for the composition and powers of the House of Lords. Most liberal democracies have bicameral legislatures, or legislatures with two 'chambers' or 'houses'. In the United Kingdom, the second chamber, the Upper House - or House of Lords - is currently an unelected chamber, which has judicial, leglislative, scrutinising and debating functions. It is a forum for reflection and for second thoughts on prospective policies and legislation. It provides for a diffusion rather than a concentration of parliamentary powers. It provides a valuable role for the revision of legislation which has passed through the lower house, this revision is greatly significant at times where the Lower House has a very strong majority, as it does now, or when the Commons have used methods to curtail debate. The scrutiny and amendment of Bills is equally important in improving the quality of the statute book. Thus the House of Lords does perform a great many important roles that could not be performed by the Commons. The majority of other second legislative chambers in liberal democracies are elected or are partly elected and part nominated. Until 1999 the
What Limits Are There on The Power of The Prime Minister?
What Limits Are There on The Power of The Prime Minister? It is now accepted that the most powerful individual in the British system of Government is the Prime Minister, currently Tony Blair. However, an argument that still exists involves the exact extent of the power exercised by the Prime Minister which is not very easy to calculate. A reason for this is that Prime Ministers, in the British system of Government do not govern alone. Many decisions are made by the cabinet (a group of ministers appointed by the Prime Minister) and most matters are discussed within the cabinet so it is possible to argue that the Prime Minister has very little individual power and that he has to share his power out. However, since the 1950's commentators have described an increase in the power of the Prime Minister, especially Crossman in 1962 (a cabinet member under Wilson) who argued that the Prime Minister had been taken on too much power in a diary and Benn who in 1979 referred to 'a system of personal rule in the very heart of our parliamentary democracy.' The role of the executive as a whole has certainly increased a great deal since the end of World War II, but the dangers of personal power attached to the Prime Minister have been overestimated in light of the actions of Margaret Thatcher and more recently Tony Blair, who's styles of leadership have been described as presidential.
priministers power
Prime Ministerial Power Notes on the use of this study material Sections 1-3 make important points about the nature of UK government which bestows great power on the executive and there is an outline of the functions of the PM. This is all basic and essential material. Sections 4-7 detail evidence for and against the view that the Prime Minister has become so personally powerful that he has become a Presidential figure. The central arguments should be known with some evidence. Section 8 is a conclusion. . The Nature of Parliamentary Government Party Dominates o The crucial constitutional feature of contemporary Britain -is that there is no separation of powers between the executive and legislature as there is in the U.S.A. In Britain the executive (or government) consists of the leadership of the largest party in the Commons. o The dominant 'fact' of British political life is that party dominates the Commons - the leadership of the majority party is the government; the leadership of the next biggest party - the official Opposition - want to be the government as well as opposing the government in the short term . o The Commons is primarily therefore the 'cockpit' of two-party struggle with the votes of backbenchers on the government side ensuring that the government can effectively govern - i.e. pass its proposals into law - with the backbenchers of the major
