Cover; Contents; List of Figures and Tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Part I; 1 Introduction: Comparing Prime Ministers; Prime ministers and political leadership; Political leadership; Classifying political leadership; Studying the British prime minister; Studying the Australian prime minister; Current research trends; Predominance; Choice of countries; Framework for analysis; Part II; 2 Cabinet as a Resource; Australia: Cabinet traditionalism; Australia: Committees and collegiality; Britain: Cabinet -- Too little time, too many busy people
Britain: Committees and collegialityCabinet collegiality compared; 3 Prime Minister and Party; Party leadership; Leadership selection; The party in context; Australia: The party room; Britain: The leader and the party in power; Prime minister and parliament; Prime minister as party leader: Skill in context; 4 Controlling and Strengthening the Centre; People not positions; The Prime Minister's Office; Capacity at the centre; Departmental capacity; Comparative institutional support; Part III; 5 Prime Ministers: Personal Capacity; Character as skill; Heresthetics: Political skill
Bargaining skillsRhetoric; Howard: The constant dialogue; Blair: The spin cycle; Strategic skills and teaching reality; 6 Splendid Isolation: Personalisation and Autonomy; Personalisation; Prime ministers as autonomous agents; Part IV; 7 Comparative Perspectives and Conclusions; Institutional capacity; Personal capacity; Notes; References; Index
Summary
A study of prime ministerial leadership in Britain and Australia. Tony Blair and John Howard were election winning leaders in two similar countries. They succeeded in dominating politics for over 10 years, but both fell dramatically from office. This book asks how these prime ministers established such predominant positions
