POL214Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: United Kingdom Cabinet Committee, Focus Group, Treasury Board Secretariat
Document Summary
Prime minister: cabinet, central agencies (super bureaucrats) (finance, tbs, pco, inter- govt. affairs, pmo) Pm has lots of authority and power and his office. There are impediments to pm power. Another party may be dominated senate. Pm has power to communicate directly(?) with parliament, undermine power of parliament(?) Stronger in can. than any other govt. system . Patronage: the glue that keeps the parties(?) together. Strengths to democratic : strong centralized authoritative, robust govt, capacity to get what govt. wants to get done. Challenge to pm more likely to come from courts and opposition from provincial capitals. Canada has become more like a focus group. You can"t have a cabinet that"s only anglophone or francophone- to make it look like. No fixed size for cabinet. When new govt comes, thy. Everyone shows up to meeting and argues what each wants/proposals. The trouble with this system is that with strong ministers