Primus Inter Pares?
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PRIMUS INTER PARES? AN INSTITUTIONAL COMPARISON OF THE OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER Britain, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Denmark Fredrik Holm Thesis for the degree of Ph.D. Department of Government 1997 London School of Economics and Political Science UMI Number: U10B541 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U10B541 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 S°\L>L± 2£ For Marlies Cruse, Wisdom not lost in knowledge. Primus inter pares? - Table of Contents - Summary Table of Contents I. Summary page Chapter 1. Primus inter Pares? - An Introduction...........................................................1 Chapter 2. The Office of Prime Minister Compared: The Methodological Aspects . 17 The Systems-Intemal Setting................................................................................. 26 The Systems-Extemal Setting ............................................................................... 38 Chapter 3. The Prime Minister and The Constitution.................................................... 60 The Constitutions: A Brief Background.................................................................64 The Constitution: Prime Ministerial Property or Problem?.................................. 71 Chapter 4. The Prime Minister and the Party ................................................................... 116 The Macroperspective: The Dominant Parties r ........................................... 118 The Microperspective: Dependency on the Party?...................................................125 The Selection of the Party Leader........................................................................... 130 Assessing the Leadership: An Autonomous or Dependent Party Leader?...............154 The Party Leadership Contract: Towards Conclusions............................................ 163 Chapter 5. The Prime Minister and The Cabinet: The Internal Dimension................... 171 The Cabinet: The Internal Dimension..................................................................... 188 The Recomposition of Cabinets: Four System...................................................... s 209 Chapter 6. The Prime Minister and The Cabinet: The External Dimension...................225 The Prime Minister and Parliament .........................................................................227 The Prime Minister and International Politics.........................................................241 The Cabinet-Dimensions in Perspective: Reasons for Termination....................... 248 The External Dimension: Some Conclusions.......................................................... 258 Chapter 7. The Prime Ministership: Towards a General Assessment............................. 266 Appendix 1. Post-1945 Prime Ministers ............................................................................... 299 Appendix 2. Post-1945 Party Leaders ................................................................................... 301 Appendix 3. The Cabinet Recomposition Magnitudes...........................................................304 Bibliography 305 Primus inter pares? Table of Contents Table of Contents II. Contents in Detail page Preface...................................................................................................................................... i Abbreviations and Terminology .................................................................................................ii Nota B ene................................................................................................................................. iii 1. PRIMUS INTER PARES? - AN INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Objective of the Study: A Comparison of the Institutional Framework............... 1 1.2 Why a Study of the Office of Prime Minister?................................................................ 5 1.3 The Structure of the Study ............................................................................................... 8 1.4 The Office of Prime Minister: A Short Background..................................................... 9 1.4.1 The Prime Minister in the Political System...................................................... 9 1.4.2 A Primus Inter Pares? ....................................................................................... 11 1.4.3 On Terminology: ’Prime Minister’ and ’Executive’ ........................................ 15 2. THE OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER COMPARED: THE METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS 2.1 Towards a Theoretical Framework for A nalysis............................................................. 17 2.1.1 The Core Problem and the Undertaking ........................................................... 17 2.1.2 An Institutional Point of Departure .................................................................. 19 2.1.3 Does the Institutional Framework Matter? ...................................................... 24 2.1.4 Defining a Comparative Point of Departure .................................................... 25 2.2 The Systems-Intemal Setting ............................................................................................ 26 2.2.1 The Office of Prime Minister: The Dependent V ariable ................................. 26 2.2.2 Affecting the Office: The Independent Variables ............................................. 29 2.2.3 Towards an Institutional Typology of Prime Ministerial Leadership.............. 33 2.3. The Systems-Extemal S etting ......................................................................................... 38 2.3.1 A Synthesis: A Model for the Institutional Leadership Profile........................ 38 2.3.2 Properties and Problems of the M o d e l............................................................. 40 2.3.3 Comparison and Its Methodology .................................................................... 42 2.3.3.1 An Introduction: Towards a Definition ............................................. 42 2.3.3.2 Maximising the Relevance of Variables through D esign................. 44 A Most-Similar or Most-Dissimilar Design?...................................... 44 continues Primus inter pares? Table of Contents The Comparison of Systems................................................................ 47 How Many Systems Should Be Compared?...................................... 48 Selecting Systems: The Minimisation of System-Context Variation ................................................................................................ 49 Comparing the Selected Systems: AMatching-Pairs Approach .... 53 2.3.4 Some Problems and Delimitations.................................................................... 55 2.3.5 The M aterial ....................................................................................................... 56 2.3.6 A Concluding Outline ....................................................................................... 58 3. THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE CONSTITUTION 3.1 Initial Definitions and Classifications .............................................................................. 60 3.2 The Constitutions: A Brief Background........................................................................... 64 3.2.1 Westminster Systems: Britain and the Republic of Ireland ............................ 64 3.2.2 Nordic Constitutionalism: Sweden and Denm ark ............................................. 68 3.3 The Constitution: Prime Ministerial Property or Problem? ........................................... 71 3.3.1 The Procedures of Government Appointment .................................................. 71 3.3.1.1 The Cases of Britain and the Irish Republic ...................................... 71 3.3.1.2 The Cases of Sweden and Denmark .................................................. 75 3.3.2 The Procedures of Parliament Dissolution......................................................... 81 3.3.2.1 The Cases of Britain and Ireland ...................................................... 81 3.3.2.2 The Cases of Sweden and Denmark .................................................. 85 3.3.3 Termination: Dismissal and Resignation of Ministers...................................... 89 3.3.3.1 The Dismissal of Cabinet Ministers.................................................... 90 3.3.3.1.1 The Cases of Britain and Ireland ........................................ 90 3.3.3.1.2 The Cases of Sweden and Denmark.................................... 91 3.3.3.2 Resignation: A Four-System Comparison ........................................ 93 3.3.4 Other Constitutional Capacities......................................................................... 95 3.4 Towards Constitutional Profiles of the Premierships...................................................... 97 3.4.1 The Processes of Appointment and Cabinet Formation.................................... 98 3.4.2 The Dissolution of Parliament........................................................................