Greenstein model

• The Greenstein model assesses the qualities of a leader based upon their

  1. Proficiency as a communicator
  2. Organisational capacity
  3. Political skill
  4. Policy vision
  5. Cognitive style
  6. Emotional intelligence.
• Greenstein argues that due to the "tradition of collective leadership" in Prime Ministerial Power, individuals like Churchills, Thatchers, and Blairs are rare and outnumbered by figures such as Majors and Baldwins.
• Collective leadership means that less presidential leaders such as Attlee can hide behind the Cabinet- He was notoriously "allergic to the press". This illustrates how quality of PM is inhibited by collective leadership allowing for these opportunities.

  However, for Prime Ministers like Blair, who knew how to harness public communication due to notably to Press Secretaries like Campbell, this provided a great asset, and even bolstered his image over that of the cabinet shackling from the collective leadership ideal.
• Collective Leadership

  Hinders the qualities of a Prime Minister in their own right, restricting all of Greenstein's qualities to a matter of Cabinet consensus. Ignoring the socio-political context to this can form the impression of a position within the British system of de jure weakness.
• Thatcher

  Failed to balance yes-men (dries) and thought-provokers (wets) in her cabinet, due to a "bunker mentality" becoming ultimately detached from the country.
• Blair


  Organised the Cabinet minimally, Trimmed back Cabinet meetings to 30 minutes once a week, he hired 200 staff members to work explicitly for him so that he could disregard Cabinet. Breaking free from collective leadership and becoming presidential, something which would become his Achilles heel with the Iraq War 2003.
• Political skill is calculated by how well leaders react to the difficulties of the spotlight. Macmillan showed to have great skill with his handling of the 1956 Suez Crisis. This of course can be undermined by collective leadership when the PM has waning political capital and the cabinet see themselves as the real force behind decision-making.
• In the de jure sense prime ministers rarely have a distinct policy vision, this vacuum is often filled by collective leadership through the cabinet. This leads to a department-led country where each minister decides the fate of their portfolio.

  Blair, spoke of a "joined up" government where all ministers were following a plan set by him and his number 10 policy development team led by David Miliband
• Greenstein places emphasis on emotional intelligence citing that without such, a leader cannot understand and thereby represent their country.

  This was the issue with Blair who in all his presidentialism failed to assess the public furore over the Iraq War 2003.
• The overarching issue with the Greenstein Model is that whilst it acknowledges a "tradition of collective leadership" it does not analyse the context around such can fluctuate as the Cabinet is based upon the same variable qualities as the Prime Minister is, thus by the same qualities the whole executive must be assessed before qualitatively assessing the Prime Minister.