Why has PM /Cabinet relations provoked so much debate? Has the growth in PM power caused the demise of Cabinet power?

Factors influencing the debate – the uncodified constitution has led to confusion. In the USA a president has sole executive power and he is directly eleccted and free to chose his cabinet. In the UK in contrast, cabinet emerged as a LINK between the executive and the legislature ‘a buckle which fastens’ Its origin belonging to one branch and its functions belongs to the other In the UK the PM and the Cabinet came as a team and are both drawn from the majority party. We do have to rely on insiders information to try and get real pictures of what the reality is. 1.Constitutional opacity and ambiguity

2. Constitutional importance of the issue People need to know how decisions are made and how they are made have to be seen to be democratic. The Core Executive must be transparent In the USA the focus is on the relationship between President and Congress In the UK the focus is on the relationship between PM and the Core Executive

3. Royal Prerogative powers In Foreign Policy and Patronage/ appointments, these powers are very significant in cabinet and PM relations e.g. Lords scandal/loans for peerages e.g. the ‘PM in a Shrinking World’ Richard Rose – waging war and negotiating foreign treaties without the advice of cabinet or part of it, is highly contentious ‘Television Age PMs’ have fuelled the dbate too

4. Memoirs and the Bastards on the Inside Crossman and Benn 1970s – Prime Ministerial Government Mo Mowlam – ‘ Momentum’ Leaks – very much the antithesis of collective responsibility because they show the divisions. The next question for PMs is what do you do with dissenting ministers?

5. Rise of the Mass Media The media are now less deferential, less homogenous and less consenting. The public are fully involved and the 24 nature of the machine means that there is a constant need for information and this has led to the constant debate around this and other issues.