Page 163 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes In a word, the monarch “is essentially a personal trustee or guardian of the constitution” The British
monarch is not at all a mere figure-head as treated by the non-serious observers of British government
and politics. True to say that he does not steer the ship, but he has to make certain that there is a man
at the wheel. While admiring the system of constitutional monarchy in his country, Laski remarks:
“Thus, far beyond doubt, the system of limited monarchy has been an unquestionable success in
Great Britain. It has, so far, trodden its way with remarkable skill amid the changing habits of the
time. Its success, no doubt, has been the outcome of the fact that it has exchanged power of influence;
the blame for errors in policy has been laid at the door of ministers who have paid the penalty by loss
of office.”
Prime Ministerial Government

The most astonishing development in the sphere of the Westminster model should be discovered in
the extremely powerful position of the Prime Minister calling for the rechristening of this form of
political system as the Prime Ministerial Government. The classical doctrine of the Prime Minister’s
being ‘first among equals’ or primus inter pares now stands thoroughly discredited. Such an astounding
development of the British constitutional system, however, found its best expression in the statement
of R.H.S. Crossman who should be regarded as the author of a new doctrine. On the basis of his
inside knowledge of the British government by virtue of having had close association with the Labour
Prime Minister Wilson, Crossman could go to the final length of saying that the nomenclature of
parliamentary or cabinet government was outdated in view of the very strong position of one man —
the Prime Minister.
The discovery of Crossman made him a well-known figure in the field of the study of modern political
systems. His findings led to the emergence of ample literature on the subject that virtually created a
sort of interesting controversy on the vast powers end real position of the ‘first elected monarch’ of
England. He has listed following relevant powers that the Prime Minister now wields.
1. The Prime Minister is the master of his Cabinet. As such, any minister fighting in the Cabinet
for his Department can be sacked by the Prime Minister any day. The ministers must be constantly
aware that their tenure of office depends on his personal decisions.
2. The Prime Minister decides about the agenda of the Cabinet. Here the Prime Minister has the
last word. He decides (though in consultation with the Secretary to the Cabinet) what issues
shall be fought out and what not.
3. The Prime Minister decides about the organisation of the Cabinet committees. What committees
exist, how they are manned, above all, who are the chairmen — all this is entirely a concern of
the Prime Minister.
4. The Prime Minister has almost monopoly of patronage. He personally controls the Honours
List. He has an unchallenged and free hand in selecting new members of the House of Lords. It
gives him a useful device for retiring ageing or incompetent minister without disgrace and
purging his Government by promotions into the upper chamber.
5. Even more important than the control of the patronage is the control of the Civil Service which
a Prime Minister has exercised — again since the period of Lloyd George.
6. The final power of the Prime Minister is his personal control of Government publicity. The
Government’s press relations are conducted by the Number 10 press department at its daily
press conferences. That means, the people have a daily coherent, central explanation of what
the Government is doing—an explanation naturally in terms the Prime Minister thinks right.
Thus on the basis of these ‘relevant’ powers of the Prime Minister, Crossman sums up: “It does not
mean that he is a dictator; it does not mean that he can tell his Ministers what to do in their Departments.
But it does mean that in the battle of Whitehall this man in the centre, this chairman, this man without
a Department, without apparent power, can exert, when he is successful, a dominating personal
control. This explains why a British Cabinet is always called a ‘Wilson Cabinet’ or a ‘Macmillan
Cabinet’. It is because every Cabinet takes its tone from the Prime Minister.”

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