Introducing Politics for AS level

Student Resources - Chapter thirteen

• Chapter Summary
• Matching Exercise
• Further reading
• Internet links
• Multiple Choice Quiz

Chapter 13: Ministers and Civil Servants

SETTING THE SCENE

The last chapter dealt with the Prime Minister and his senior ministers in the Cabinet. But there are other elected members of government: the junior ministers. This chapter looks at the role and work of all ministers, both within the Cabinet and outside it. It then turns to the work of the civil service, the permanent, non-elected officials who work with the ministers in the executive.

KEY TOPICS

• Ministers and accountability
• Ministerial resignations
• The civil service: traditional features
• Changes to the civil service since 1979
• Open government and freedom of information
• The relationship between civil servants and ministers

Are any of the terms below unclear to you? If so, perhaps you should look over this chapter or use the searchable glossary to familiarise yourself with these terms.

• Accountability
• The civil service
• Bureaucracy
• Quangos

Matching Exercise: Chapter Thirteen

Matching Exercise - Match the terms on the left with the most appropriate description on the right

Accountability	Bodies that are funded and appointed by the government, but are partly independent of it, and are not part of a specific government department.
The civil service	The administrative branch of a political system
Bureaucracy	Unelected body of professional administrators or bureaucrats.
Quangos	The way in which a person is held responsible by someone else for his or her work.

Further reading for Chapter thirteen

M. Burch, and I. Holliday, The British Cabinet System (Harvester, 1996): academic study of the Cabinet and wider executive core.

M. Foley, The British Presidency (Manchester University Press, 2000): lively and famous study of the modern Prime Minister’s role.

P. Hennessy, The Prime Minister (Allen Lane, 2000): classic study by a master of anecdote and analysis – eminently readable.

P. Hennessy, Cabinet (Blackwell, 1986): still relevant and lively.

N. McNaughton, The Prime Minister and Cabinet (Hodder, 1999): straightforward analysis, ideal for the AS beginner.

J. Major, Autobiography (HarperCollins, 1999): straight from the horse’s mouth – what it was like from the inside.

James Naughtie, Rivals (First Estate, 2002): radio presenter tells the story of the Brown–Blair relationship.

Robert Preston, Brown’s Britain (Short Books, 2006): a study of the ‘Iron Chancellor’.

A. Rawnsley, Servants of the People (Penguin, 2001): amusing analysis of a high-class journalist.

R. A. W. Rhodes and P. Dunleavy, Prime Minister, Cabinet and Core Executive (Macmillan, 1995): lively academic launch of the idea of a core executive.

Peter Riddell, The Unfulfilled PM (Politico’s, 2005): lively biography of Blair.

M. Smith, The Core Executive in Britain (Macmillan, 1999): update and develops the core executive theme.

M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years (HarperCollins, 1993): the tragic story of Thatcher’s rise and fall, as told by the lady herself.

Websites

• www.ukonline.gov.uk (for links to government departments)
• www.ukonline.gov.uk (Civil Service)
• www.homeoffice.gov.uk (Home Office)
• www.mod.gov.uk (Ministry of Defence)
• www.fco.gov.uk (Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
• www.direct.gov.uk (guide to government)

Multiple Choice Quiz 13

Click here to access the Multiple Choice Quiz for this Chapter.