Cabinet government is dead say officials

A string of high profile civil servants have delivered evidence to a parliamentary committee that confirms what we have suspected for some time: decision making at the heart of government is no longer a collective process.

Cabinet unshuffle

There’s an interesting example in The Times about PM/Cab relations that I’ll be using when covering this topic later in the academic year.

US revision: American Cabinet

One of the modern features of American cabinets is its role in reaching out to the people and representing the diversity evident in the USA.  Here are some notes on Obama’s.

AS last minute updates

I’m a Cabinet minister get me out of here!  She fell before she was pushed.  Is this the most desperate act in the dying days of the Labour government?  You decide!

AS revision: PM power

Ben Franklin is reported to have said that two things are certain in life, death and taxes.  We could add a further certainty: if a PM/Cab questions comes up in AS exams it will be the most popular response.  Here is a quick note about GB.

What does a spad do?

The Damian McBride affair has shed the spotlight on the murky world of special advisers.

Rawnsley again

This article will probably form the basis of my Media Monday session this week, unless I come across anything on the web between now and then.  Of course, students covering UK Issues or Ideologies at A2 will have loads to discuss on the recent attacks in Northern Ireland by Irish nationalists.

Rawnsley’s article is ostensibly about the Tory leader, but acts as a useful primer on PM/Cabinet relations during the Blair and Brown premierships. 

Advice and consent

I’m sure I won’t be the first to paraphrase Oscar Wilde in saying that Obama’s loss of one Cabinet nominee may be regarded as misfortune, but to lose two looks like carelessness.

Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, has withdrawn from the nomination to head Health and Human Services.  Daschle has apparently failed to pay $130,000 in taxes.  This comes weeks after Bill Richardson withdrew from the Commerce post.  What does this say about the administration that Obama is running?  It is probably to early to question the President’s ability to judge character given that Daschle, who is a multi-millionaire, had been guilty of at most making an error. 

Had Daschle not been due to play a key role in guiding through important healthcare reforms, then it is likely Daschle would have ridden the media storm.  For more on the withdrawal and the vetting process view an excellent transcript of an online interview with Larry Sabato in the Washington Post. 

Media Monday: the Cabinet reshuffle

The big story of the week has been of course Gordon Brown’s Cabinet reshuffle.  A classic AS question asks what factors a PM considers when appointing their Cabinet.  In our Media Monday sessions we have been examining which appointments fit into the respective traditional explanations

Brown to reshuffle the pack?

Speculation that the PM is to wield his power of patronage and change a few faces at the Cabinet table leads us to consider why