Politics and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Politics and Society - Essay Example 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 jus t 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 represen tation 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