POLITICAL POWER AND THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: A STUDY OF LEADERSHIP

摘要

This dissertation is concerned with the institutional resources which are available to contemporary British Prime Ministers which may be used to influence substantive policy decisions in British Cabinets. The dissertation considers three questions. What are the institutional resources available to Prime Ministers which may be brought to bear on policy decisions in the Cabinet? What kinds of strategies of influence do Prime Ministers use to shape policy decisions inside the Cabinet? What roles do these resources and strategies suggest for Prime Ministers inside the Cabinet?;This dissertation takes as given the constitutional premise that the British Cabinet is a plural executive whose members share collective responsibility. A Prime Minister has no formal authority to direct Cabinet policy on substantive issues. Cabinet decisions must be obtained by consensus. A Prime Minister's power in the Cabinet rests with his or her ability to obtain and direct a consensus. Towards these ends, Prime Ministers have certain institutional resources and use certain strategies of influence. These are the subject of this dissertation.;This dissertation argues that the lines of authority in the British political system focus on the Cabinet through the Prime Minister. It is this structure which underpins a Prime Minister's power in the Cabinet. This finding is consistent with the findings of traditional studies of prime ministerial power. This dissertation argues further, however, that the lines of communication in the British political system parallel and reinforce the lines of authority and it is this fact which gives a Prime Minister's authority its reality in the Cabinet. Necessary for the invocation of authority is information. Communications factors, therefore, are important in determining who the real decision-makers are and where they are located. This dissertation maps the communications flows between the British Cabinet and its political environment and argues that it is these flows which give reality to a Prime Minister's authority in the Cabinet and define his or her potential strategies of influence in the Cabinet. This dissertation describes this mix of strategies, offers generalization on their use, and describes the kinds of roles these strategies suggest for Prime Ministers.