The Prime Minister and Cabinet | AQA A-Level Politics (7152)
The Prime Minister and Cabinet
- 50 questions
- 4 subtopics
- Paper 1: government and politics of the UK
- Paper 1
The core executive: how a Prime Minister is made and what patronage buys, how policy is actually made, and the conventions of individual and collective responsibility that are supposed to keep ministers answerable..
It covers the Core Executive and the Prime Minister's Powers, policy Making and the Limits of Prime Ministerial Power, ministerial Responsibility and accountability in Practice and Crichel Down.
Sample questions from The Prime Minister and Cabinet
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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The Core Executive and the Prime Minister's Powers
Translate primus inter pares and explain what it claims about the Prime Minister.
Show the answer
It means 'first among equals', and it presents the Prime Minister as the leading member of a collective cabinet rather than a separate chief executive. -
The Core Executive and the Prime Minister's Powers
What is an inner cabinet?
Show the answer
A small informal group of the Prime Minister's most trusted colleagues and advisers in which key decisions are effectively taken. -
Policy Making and the Limits of Prime Ministerial Power
Name three factors that determine how dominant a Prime Minister can be.
Show the answer
The size of the Commons majority, the unity and loyalty of the governing party, and the Prime Minister's standing with the public. -
Policy Making and the Limits of Prime Ministerial Power
Why did the poll tax also expose the limits of prime ministerial power?
Show the answer
Mass non-payment, protest and panic among MPs about losing their seats contributed to her removal and the tax was then abandoned. -
Ministerial Responsibility
Why is collective responsibility useful to a Prime Minister?
Show the answer
It presents a united government to the public and silences internal dissent, because open criticism means leaving office. -
Ministerial Responsibility
Who ultimately decides whether a minister has breached that code?
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The Prime Minister. -
Accountability in Practice and Crichel Down
What does Iain Duncan Smith's 2016 resignation show about collective responsibility?
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A minister who cannot publicly support a government decision is expected to leave office in order to criticise it. -
Accountability in Practice and Crichel Down
What is meant by calling the UK system an 'elective dictatorship'?
Show the answer
The criticism that a government with a large Commons majority can do largely as it pleases between elections, escaping effective accountability.
The 4 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| The Core Executive and the Prime Minister's Powers | Recall questions on what the core executive is, how someone becomes Prime Minister, and the powers of patronage that follow. | 13 |
| Policy Making and the Limits of Prime Ministerial Power | Recall questions on how policy is made, from the Cabinet Secretary and special advisers to green and white papers, and on the factors, events and cases such as the poll tax and Iraq that show the power and limits of a Prime Minister. | 15 |
| Ministerial Responsibility | Recall questions on individual and collective responsibility, the obligations collective responsibility imposes and why it suits a Prime Minister. | 9 |
| Accountability in Practice and Crichel Down | Recall questions on the distinction ministers draw between being accountable and being responsible, and on the 1954 resignation that tested it. | 13 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Politics Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,215 questions with their answers.