Politics and Society - Essay Example

In Britain, the cabinet forms the final government’s decision makers. This is a body which is the core of thepolitical system of Britain. Cabinet meetings are usually held on Tuesdays of the parliament sessions. Ministers plus the state secretaries emanating from each and every department are the ones who take part in these meetings by the cabinet. The cabinet system set in starting the 1500s which was usually formed by the council of privy, who were the Monarch’s advisers. The cabinet’s first Prime Minister was sir Walpole Robert who often convened meetings of the ministers of the king. In the year 1832 there was an emphasis by the Act of Reform that called for the government to be confident with the undertakings of the parliament and the Monarch for coherence. From 1753 through 1801, William Pitt came up with the right bestowed on the prime minister to request other ministries to reign and establish it. The only record up to year 1916 evidencing the decisions of the cabinet was a letter done by the Prime Minister to be sent to the Monarch. Some of the posts that were created in year 1916 were the secretary of the cabinet and the secretariat of the cabinet. (number10.gov.uk, 2011) Peele in his book says that in 2004, the system of government in Britain was that of cabinet. This system has all the political as well as executive leadership being provided by the cabinet. This cabinet is made up of few senior ministers who are heads of various main departments. The head of the cabinet is the Prime Minister. The position of premiership is devoid of formal powers, but is usually above the other ministers in superiority. The power bestowed to the Prime Minister is, thus, legitimate in the collective government. Therefore, the Prime Minister is just but the ministers’ team leader. This government in entirety is the one responsible for all the decisions reached in parliamentary proceedings. Despite the fact that Macmillan in 1957 to 1963 suggested how a cabinet type of governance should be, the current cabinet system in the UK is altogether different. Changes are evident in many levels of the system, with the prominence of premiership being a source of power imbalance in the cabinet. (Peele, 2004 p127) The most senior of the positions in the cabinet are usually filled by the appointments made by the Prime Minister subsequent to an election. All persons holding the positions in the cabinet of the UK are usually serving members of parliament. The senior most positions in the cabinet are Foreign Secretary, Deputy Prime Minister, Exchequer’s Chancellor and the Home Secretary. The holders of the office are usually announced immediately after every general election’s result. This is mostly after one or two days afterwards the appointments of minor positions in the cabinet are made public knowledge. (historylearningsite.co.uk, 2011) In Britain, coalitions approach of governance have happened severally and arrangements as well as pacts alike. Coalitions are usually established to bring resolutions to predicaments. Some of these predicaments arise from crisis nationally like the popular Great Wars in the 1900s, while some of the crisis that call for coalition governments are economic (for instance, the 1930s National Government). Other crises that bring about a coalition government are political like the 1970s’ which was formed due to a small majority by the labour party. (Oaten, 2007 p11) A coalition government is defined as simply a system of governance where a government is made up of at least two parliamentary parties. This type of governance is not common in systems where there is a plural system of election and two-party systems. It is a common occurrence in proportional representation systems of governance, though. There are also special circumstances that require for this type of governance like where after an election, none of the contesting parties makes plural votes in a convincing manner or even scenarios needing a united purpose nationally. Parties forming a majority of votes usually form a “grand” type coalition in most systems. This theory of coalition system was first initiated by Riker William in year 1962. (social.jrank.org, 2011) A recent example of a coalition government is that of the Nick Clegg and Cameron David which was dubbed a ‘united’ coalition pledge. This was majorly formed to bring about a stable and strong type of leadership. This coalition was formed in year 2010 after the election. Nick Clegg was appointed the deputy Prime Minister. The main agenda that the coalition was to look at was the aid of troops, reduce the levels of budget deficit, clear the politics up and finally construct society strength. Cameron was appointed the Prime Minister to this system of coalition. (news.bbc.co.uk, 2010) Coalition types of governance have been criticised to be more concentrated on selection as opposed to accountability. The argument under this governance approach is that the partners in the coalition are picked in accordance to their nearness to positions in the space of Euclidean policy. The nearness is what determines for how long a coalition can hold. Survival of a coalition is reliant upon other things apart from elections according to Maravall. As per Maravall’s work, any political crisis can cause the demise of a coalition government. (Maravall, 2010) These types of governance have triggered studies about how effective they are and how they would work in various situations. For example, the Government Institute puts in its website that over the period of three decades in the past, the UK was governed in the most of the time by single parties. However, various changes have arisen that have impacted on the landscape of politics gave rise to the possibilities of coalition governance systems or minority governments. This, thus, means that UK has taken a new route in its governance. A coalition government means a lot of changes to the governance system of UK. Some of the changes that may be examined maybe with the inclusion of the assessment of the impact of coalition government upon Westminster and Whitehall, make a provision to the holders of the highest offices upon the way coalitions are governed, and lastly the minorities experience as well as the coalitions experience in the countries of Westminster and the other administrations that have devolved. This is what one of the projects by the Institute conducted about minority as well as coalition government. (instituteforgovernment.org.uk, 2011) Reference list: historylearningsite.co.uk. (2011). The Cabinet and British Politics. Retrieved 19 March 2011 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cabinet_and_british_politics.htm instituteforgovernment.org.uk. (2011). Minority and Coalition Government. Retrieved 19 March 2011 http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/content/69/minority-and- coalition-government Maravall, Jose Maria. (2010). Accountability in Coalition Governments. Retrieved 19 March 2011 http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.polisci.071108.101919 news.bbc.co.uk. 2010. David Cameron and Nick Clegg pledge 'united' coalition. Retrieved 19 March 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8676607.stm number10.gov.uk. (2011). Cabinet: history of cabinet. Retrieved 17 March 2011 http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and- tour/cabinet Oaten, Mark. (2007). Coalition: the politics and personalities of coalition government from 1850. Harriman House Limited. p 11. Peele, Gillian. (2004). Governing the UK:British politics in the 21st century. Wiley- Blackwell. Edition 4, illustrated. p 127. social.jrank.org. (2011). Coalition Government: The Theory of Political Coalitions. Retrieved 19 March 2011 http://social.jrank.org/pages/1648/coalition-government.html Read More