Prime Ministers in Europe

Prime Ministers in Europe
Author: Ferdinand Müller-Rommel
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2022-06-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030908917

This book examines the changes in the career experiences and profiles of 350 European prime ministers in 26 European democracies from 1945 to 2020. It builds on a theoretical framework, which claims that the decline of party government along with the increase of populism, technocracy, and the presidentialization of politics have influenced the careers of prime ministers over the past 70 years. The findings show that prime ministers’ career experiences became less political and more technical. Moreover, their career profiles shifted from a traditional type of ‘party-agent’ to a new type of ‘party-principal’. These changes affected the recruitment of executive elites and their political representation in European democracies, albeit with different intensity and speed.

Half In, Half Out

Half In, Half Out
Author: Andrew Adonis
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2018-06-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785904353

The decades since the end of the Second World War have seen massive change sweep across Britain's social, cultural and political landscape. Yet throughout this period, one thing has remained constant and unchanging: the thorny question of our relationship with Europe. Europe, and Britain's place in or out of it, has always been a hugely divisive factor – on either side of the political spectrum – creating warring camps in both the Labour and Conservative parties. Famous Europhiles to put their heads above the parapets over the years have included Conservatives Ted Heath and David Cameron, as well as Tony Blair for Labour, while leading Europhobes count among their number the former Conservative Prime Ministers Anthony Eden and Margaret Thatcher. Born out of a series of Oxford University lectures devised by the former director of the Number 10 Policy Unit, Andrew Adonis, Half in, Half Out presents a comprehensive and enlightening look at Britain's Prime Ministers of the past seven decades – and explores their often hugely differing attitudes towards our neighbours on the other side of the Channel. Starting with the premiership of Sir Winston Churchill, and ending with Theresa May, the book examines in fascinating and forensic detail the crucial relationships between our leaders and Europe. With each chapter written by a prominent political figure, including Sir Nicholas Soames, David Owen and Rachel Reeves, the book provides some hugely revealing portraits of Britain's former leaders, shining a light on their sometimes warm, and at other times downright hostile, attitudes towards Europe.

Prime Ministers and Party Governments in Central and Eastern Europe

Prime Ministers and Party Governments in Central and Eastern Europe
Author: Florian Grotz
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2023-09-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000956970

This book focuses on Prime Ministers (PMs) in the post-communist democracies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It shows how the survival of PMs in chief executive office depends on their interrelations with other actors in three different arenas. The first arena encompasses the linkages between PMs and their parties. In this respect, being a party leader is a major power resource for PMs to retain office even under critical circumstances. At the heart of the second arena is the PMs’ relationship to other parliamentary parties. In this regard, the high fragmentation and fluidity of many post-communist party systems pose enormous challenges for PMs to secure constant parliamentary support. In the third arena, PMs are confronted with state presidents. Given their relatively strong powers in most CEE countries, presidents may use their constitutional powers to interfere in the political domain of PMs and thus jeopardise the stability of party governments. The book offers new evidence on these relationships from case studies and a broader comparative perspective. This volume will be of great use to students and researchers interested in comparative politics and government, European studies as well as political leadership. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of East European Politics and are accompanied by a revised introduction and a new conclusion.

The British Prime Minister in the Core Executive

The British Prime Minister in the Core Executive
Author: Birgit Bujard
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2018-07-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319899538

This book examines the UK prime minister’s political leadership in the domestic executive. By offering a comparative study of the political leadership of James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair with regard to European monetary policy, it challenges the thesis that British prime ministers today have more power, resources and autonomy than their predecessors, giving them a greater capacity to act. Taking key European monetary policy decisions by the British government between 1976 and 2007 as empirical cases, the book assesses the extent to which the political leadership of each prime minister was affected by the cabinet, the parliamentary party as well as the media, and the extent to which he or she was able to manage these factors. It becomes clear from this analysis that prime ministerial predominance is not as frequent as suggested, while collective leadership does not represent a return to cabinet government. Moreover, particularly the party in government affects the prime minister’s leadership by shaping his or her options on appointments (and therefore the composition of the core executive), and through its behaviour in parliament, e.g. through rebellions or the threat of them.

Half In, Half Out

Half In, Half Out
Author: Andrew Adonis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2019-04-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781785904349

Adonis provides revealing portraits of Britain's Prime Ministers and their often differing attitudes to Europe and the European Union.

Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors

Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors
Author: L. Helms
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2004-12-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0230502911

How have the American presidency, the British premiership and the German chancellorship changed over the last half-century? Has there been convergence or divergence in the development of political leadership in the United States and in the two largest democracies of Western Europe? And what difference can individual leaders make in an ever-more complex political environment? Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors addresses these questions by looking at the leadership performance of more than two dozen American presidents, British prime ministers and German chancellors of the post-1945 period. In so doing, it offers a unique perspective on the nature of executive leadership in Western democracies that takes into account both the international and the historical dimension of comparison.

The Prime Ministers

The Prime Ministers
Author: Steve Richards
Publisher:
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2020-09
Genre: Great Britain
ISBN: 9781786495884

A landmark history of the men and women who have defined the UK's role in the modern world - and what makes them special - by a seasoned political journalist.