The Accountability of Ministers to Parliament

Woodhouse, Diana

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198278924.003.0001

Cited by 5 publications

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“…Parliament severely underestimated the subsequent effect that the evolving state and mass parties would have on the convention and so it became the political rationale and procedural logic around which an expanding system of government was structured. Woodhouse (1994, p. 12) notes:…”

Section: The Relationship Between Parliament and The Executive: A Hismentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting the Balance? Parliament, the Executive and the British Constitution

Flinders

2002

Political Studies

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This article examines the paradoxes of parliamentary reform. Focusing mainly on the House of Commons, the first section highlights the contradictory roles of parliament and utilizes a distinction between the 'Whig' and 'Peelite' conceptions of the Whitehall-Westminster model to demonstrate the ambiguities and tensions that exist. This framework is then applied to a case study of parliamentary reform under Labour governments since 1997 in the second section. The third section emphasizes that parliament cannot be studied in isolation. It suggests that the British constitution is at a critical historical, political and institutional juncture in which a number of inter-linked emerging agendas are altering the relationship between parliament and the executive. The significance of these emerging agendas is that, unlike internal reform of parliament, they are largely beyond the executive's control. The combined influence of these factors is likely to impel the executive, at some point, to support a coherent and far-reaching reappraisal of the structure, role and powers of parliament. Consequently the degree to which Britain (de facto) remains a parliamentary state will be subject to intense and increasing debate.

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Section: The Relationship Between Parliament and The Executive: A Hismentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting the Balance? Parliament, the Executive and the British Constitution

Flinders

2002

Political Studies

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“…The complexities of accountability relationships in parliamentary systems pose challenges for conceptualising prime ministerial accountability: government accountability entails individual ministerial responsibility, which involves the responsibility of ministers for their departments, and collective responsibility, which involves the support provided by ministers to government decisions (Everett, 2016; Mulgan, 2003; Woodhouse, 1994). The precise accountability relationship between prime ministers and legislatures hence remains a notable gap in executive-legislative studies, both theoretically and empirically.…”

Section: Holding Prime Ministers To Account: Power Roles and Responsi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The practice of accountability in questioning prime ministers: Comparative evidence from Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom

Serban

2021

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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This paper compares the practice of holding prime ministers to account in four case studies: Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Using text analysis, as well as research on prime ministerial responsibilities, it investigates oral questions asked in parliamentary procedures where prime ministers are questioned together with ministers (Question Period in Canada and Question Time in Australia) versus procedures where they are questioned individually (PMQs in the United Kingdom and Oral Questions to the Taoiseach in Ireland), and explores the degree to which they are questioned for matters that are within their remit. It argues that the practice of prime ministerial accountability is decisively shaped by procedural features such as whether written notice is required for questions, as well as by the broader role of the questioning mechanism in the political system, and less by the collective or individualised nature of questioning.

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“…All ministers have resources denied to the prime minister, among them a professional, permanent and knowledgeable staff, expert knowledge and relevant policy networks, time, information and, not least, an annual budget (Marsh, Richards and Smith 2001). They have statutory responsibilities for policies in their area, which the prime minister lacks (Woodhouse 1994). They are devoted to one policy area, whereas the prime minister is obliged to range across all policy areas, cherry-picking those that either take or command his or her interest.…”

Section: Prime Ministerial Power Within Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring (and Explaining) the British Prime Minister

Heffernan¹

2005

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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Institutions cannot be understood without exploring the actors who occupy them, while actors cannot be understood without examining the institutions they inhabit. Ultimately, the actions of both institutions and actors cannot be understood separate to the political, social and economic context within which they are located. Tony Blair, rightly cited as an example of a powerful prime minister, does not have a monopoly of power, but he does have an extensive authority. The prime minister requires two things to operate effectively within Whitehall and Westminster: first, power over their parliamentary majority; and second, power within the government they lead. Because this power is contested and challenged, the age-old question, the actual degree of collegiality within government, is as central to contemporary debates about the working of the core executive as to the ancient debate about prime ministerial versus cabinet government. The prime minister is therefore best modelled as a strong, but sometimes weak, parliamentary chief executive.

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The Accountability of Ministers to Parliament

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Shifting the Balance? Parliament, the Executive and the British Constitution

Shifting the Balance? Parliament, the Executive and the British Constitution

The practice of accountability in questioning prime ministers: Comparative evidence from Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom

Exploring (and Explaining) the British Prime Minister

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