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This means that they are effectively written out of the political process. The Prime Minister is obliged to keep half an eye on the mood of the electorate, but that is not by any means his sole consideration. Civil service, media, business and Europe all overshadow the needs and wishes of voters. The influence of the Civil Service has been famously satirized by the evergreen TV satire Yes Minister. It is also encapsulated by the old adage 'No matter who you vote for, the Government always gets in'.

There is a real tension between the professional civil service who advise and implement elected ministers and the ministers themselves. Their influence shows in the fact that when the colour of the government changes it is often obvious that the new opposition criticises the government for doing exactly what they would have done do if they had been in power. One of the best examples of the way perceptions change in office is the need for a Freedom of Information Act.

Opposition parties of either hue routinely call for freedom of information because their work is continually hampered and frustrated by their inability to access information held by the civil service. Yet as soon as they are in office, they either lose, or seriously water down their proposals, bowing to the wishes of the civil service. Government officials are protected by the system of Ministerial responsibility.

If a government department fouls up, the officials who made the mistake may be rebuked or moved sideways, but it is the minister who loses his job. To have a system where mistakes can be made with impunity is a recipe for inefficiency and stagnation - or worse.

The media are the second non-democratic influence on the PM. Before his election, Tony Blair famously flew half way across the world to meet with Rupert Murdoch. Having convinced Murdoch that a Blair government would be friendly to the aims of free market capitalism, he was granted the support of the Murdoch press and broadcast media, which undoubtedly helped to secure Blair's huge majority. It is fashionable to talk down the influence of the media on voting patterns, but any objective study of the matter must conclude that journalism has a major influence on public opinion, irrespective of the low esteem in which the profession is held.

Business is the third non-democratic influence on government. Major political parties are obliged to spend millions on advertising campaigns during elections. This money cannot be met by jumble sales, but comes instead from large donations from business. Blair's political hymen was quickly ruptured by the Eccleston affair, when his government's principled and rational intention to stop tobacco advertising was delayed at the wishes of a major donor to the Labour Party.

Examples of this kind of influence can be repeated ad nauseam. The comparative powerlessness of the democratic vote is underlined by the fact that all major political parties are funded in the same way - so although voters have the option of voting for the Green Party, which receives no donations from industry, their wishes will not be represented in Parliament, since the UK electoral and broadcast system effectively excludes that group f本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。