Literature

1. John Haskell. Direct Democracy or Representative Government? Dispelling the Populist Myth. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001

2. Nadia Urbinati. Representative Democracy: Principles and Genealogy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008

3. John Gastil. By Popular Demand: Revitalizing Representative Democracy through Deliberative Elections. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000

4. Amy Gutmann, Dennis Thompson. Why Deliberative Democracy? Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004

Theme VI: “Does the uk now have Presidential or Prime Ministerial government?” Stages of Implementing

1. Point out that the British system has moved away from the traditional Cabinet government model to a Prime Ministerial model. The debates about it were in 1960s. But now the debates are about moving away from the Prime Ministerial model to Presidential government.

2. Define the difference between the Presidential and Prime Ministerial government.

3. Define main points of prime ministerial system.

4. Figure out the role of the Prime Minister in British politics.

5. Stress your attention that the PM has come to be, effectively though not legally, the head of state, the leader of the nation, irrespective of party allegiance. It should be stressed this is not the same as national popularity. Rather it means that, in times of difficulty, emergency or crisis, such as war or terrorist threats, the country can unite behind its head of government.

6. Remember that the PM now has an extensive network of personal advisers, think tanks, policy units and working groups that serve him alone and are not available to the rest of government unless he wants them to be so. Just as the US president has his own White House staff and large executive office, so too does the PM have his own ‘government department’, mostly in Downing Street.

7. Point out the growing importance of the media in politics has contributed to the greater concentration on the individual holder of the office of PM, rather than the government as a whole.

8. Remember about the growth in the importance of foreign and military affairs have contributed to a presidential feel for the office of PM. When the head of government has to negotiate with foreign powers, attend international conferences, negotiate treaties, conduct wars and meet visiting dignitaries, he is bound to appear presidential.

9. Finally, turn to the concept of spatial leadership. This is relatively new theory of prime ministerial power. It suggests that political systems are increasingly led by leaders who consider themselves to be distinctly separate from the rest of the government. This separateness gives rise to the term spatial. Presidents are naturally spatial leaders, largely because they are elected separately from the rest of the government and therefore have a different source of authority and are accountable directly to the people. This has not been the same with the British PM. Nevertheless, as the role has become more dominant, there has been a tendency for the office holder to see himself as separate from government and, to some extent, to have his own mandate directly from the people.