Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Technocracy and the Cabinet Election

After the Taoiseach has been selected by both the Dáil and the President, his job concentrates at creating his own cabinet. This cabinet, just like the Taoiseach, is apolitical and composed from experts in their field. Since the definition of 'expert' has already been established allow me to proceed straight into the process of selection.
The Taoiseach's job is to shortlist candidates for each job. There are several way he/she can go about this, really, based on the agreement with the Dáil majority. We have to remember still that the Taoiseach still needs to get his cabinet approved of by the Dáil so the selection process should, ideally, be consulted with the Dáil majority.
The shortlisted candidates that are selected by the Taoiseach are then consulted with the Dáil majority and the leaders of this majority agree with the Taoiseach which of these shortlisted candidates would be most acceptable by the Dáil majority. The Taoiseach can ignore these consultations with the leaders of the Dáil majority, of course, these talks are not legally binding. However, should he completely ignore any recommendations he faces the threat that the cabinet of experts will not be passed by the Dáil.
Having selected the ministers, the job of the cabinet is now to create the Government program. The government program would, one must imagine, reflect the main agendas of the parties forming the Dáil majority. Once again the leaders of the Dáil majority would give suggestions to the cabinet and it is up to the cabinet to consider putting them into the Government program or leaving them out. Yet again, these suggestions are not legally binding, the government has a lot of freedom in this process. However, should the recommendations be largely ignored the government faces a backlash when the program will be voted on in the Dáil.
With the full program drafted and all cabinet positions filled, the cabinet seeks its mandate from the Dáil. The Dáil votes, while having two things in mind:
1. Are the candidates truly experts? Are they any suggestions that they would not be up to the job of a minister? Will they pursue along the lines of the party's agenda?
2. Is the Government program reasonable? Does it reflect the party's agenda? Are there points in the program with which the party strongly disagrees?
When the above questions are favorably answered, the Dáil passes the confidence vote to the cabinet and its program giving them their mandate. The cabinet assumes its role and works along the lines of the Government program . However, the work of the cabinet proper is a topic for tomorrow's post. Look forward to it

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