Britain & the Federal Republic
of Germany
Parliament and the Executive
Political Science Seminar Series
Enforcing NAFO Regulations: A European
Union Perspective
Michele Del Zompo
Senior Coordinator of Control Operations with the (EU)
Community Fisheries Control Agency
3:00 pm
Friday, November 16th
AA1045
Research papers:
Due Friday, November 30th
_____________
Final exam
Saturday, Dec. 8th
9:00-11:00
AA1043
Party system:
A moderate multiparty system:
• 3-5 parties represented in the Bundestag
• Parties disagree on extent of government
intervention, as well as foreign policy, but
• Substantial areas of agreement:
– Commitment to social market economy,
welfare state
The Chancellor
Constitutional position – strong:
• Elected by the Bundestag (lower house)
• Appoints the cabinet
• Constitutionally charged with responsibility
for overall government policy
• Can only be removed through a positive
vote of non-confidence (Bundestag must
elect a replacement)
Limits on the chancellor’s power
• Basic law gives cabinet ministers
constitutional responsibility for their
own departments
• Plus political limits…
Political limits:
• Multiparty politics
• Coalition government: In order get power, a
chancellor must share power
– example current cabinet – a Grand Coalition of SPD
&CDU
• Need to pilot legislation through both the
Bundestag (lower house) and the Bundesrat
(Federal Council) in which laender (provincial
governments) have a veto
German Chancellors
Relatively few occupants:
• Konrad Adenauer – CDU (1949-63)
• Ludwig Erhard – CDU (1963-66)
• Kurt Kiesinger – CDU (1966-69)
• Willie Brandt – SPD (1969-1974)
• Helmut Schmidt – SPD (1974-82)
• Helmut Kohl – CDU (1982-98)
• Gerhard Schroeder – SPD (1998-2005)
• Angela Merkel – CDU (2005-present)
Chancellors and their power:
Political position:
• Typically:
– leader of the largest party
– Winner of the last election
• Position within cabinet:
– Unlike British PM, unable to shuffle at will
– However, strong backing from the chancellery – like
the Cabinet Secretariat, a strong central agency
• Need to maintain political authority within his
party and the country as a whole
Stronger and weaker chancellors:
Stronger:
• Adenauer
• Schmidt
• Kohl
Middling:
• Kiesinger
• Brandt
• Schroeder
Weaker:
• Erhard
To be determined:
• Angela Merkel
Gerhard Schroeder’s position
(1998-2005)
• Led a divided SPD
• Narrowly based coalition:
– SPD and Greens had a narrow 10 seat majority
• Decreasing popularity
– Impact of recent provincial elections
• Uncertain international stature
Comparing the British Prime
Minister and the German
Chancellor:
• Which (if either) is most capable of acting
without first securing the consent of others?
Bases of British PM’s power
• Written constitution?
• Convention?
• Politics & political support:
– the ways in which parties transfer the power
and authority of parliament to cabinet and
prime minister
Prime Minister’s advantage
• Hires and fires the cabinet: acknowledged right
to do so (a convention of the constitution)
• Support of `10 Downing St.’ staff (Equivalent to
Prime Minister’s Office, [PMO] in Canada)
including policy unit, social inclusion unit…
10 Downing Street
• Support from Cabinet Office: (Equivalent of
Privy Council Office [PCO] in Canada)
• Whip system
The whip system and how it operates
• Whip’s Office
– Chief Whip
– Deputy Whip
– Assistant Whips
• Serve as two way channel of communication:
– Convey frontbench opinions to the back benches
– Convey backbench views to the leadership
• Make sure that the votes are there when they are
needed
The process of discipline:
• A matter of conveying information and
persuading
• Punishment: removal of the whip or
ostracism from the caucus – rarely applied
• Dealing with dissent:
– Canada: minimum or zero tolerance
– UK: both parties tolerate some rebellion
• Conservatives:
– deep divisions over EU
– Travails of Ian Duncan Smith (IDS)
• New Labour: Iraq
How Prime Ministers maintain
support
• The consensus strategy: enlist ministers
representing different wings of the party.
–
–
–
–
Harold Wilson (1964-70, 1974-76)
James Callaghan (1976-79)
Margaret Thatcher (from 1979-83)
John Major (1990-1997)
• Damn the torpedoes/shoot from the hip:
– Margaret Thatcher (from 1983-90)
– Tony Blair (1997-present)
How different are Germany &
Britain?
• In both instances, parties matter:
• Neither the German chancellor nor the
British prime minister would be able to
lead, or govern as they do, without
disciplined or cohesive political parties
• Even so, both are constrained & must retain
political support
Political Science Seminar Series
Enforcing NAFO Regulations: A European
Union Perspective
Michele Del Zompo
Senior Coordinator of Control Operations with the (EU)
Community Fisheries Control Agency
3:00 pm
Friday, November 16th
AA1045