EXECUTIVE- AN ORGAN OF THE GOVERNMENT

"A strong executive is highly essential for the safety, protection of property and security of liberty."

Meaning of the term -'Executive'

Among the three organs of the government, the executive is regarded as the most important one. The term refers to that branch of government which executes or enforces or carries out the will of the State as expressed by the legislature and the constituent the State assembly and as interpreted by the Courts. A strong executive is highly essential for the safety, protection of property and security of liberty. The executive is the 'mainspring of government'. So a nation can get on without a functioning legislature and even without an independent judiciary but, when the executive breaks down, the entire government collapses.

In a narrow and restricted sense, the term 'executive' includes the head of the State, his ministers, advisers and departmental heads.

In a broad sense, the executive embraces the aggregate or totality of all the functionaries which are concerned with the execution of the will of the State as that will has been formulated and expressed in terms of law. In the broad sense, the executive means the whole body of ministers, of civil service, of the police and even of the armed forces.

Thus the executive includes, in a broad sense, two parts :
(i) Political
(ii) Administrative.

The political executive includes the President and all Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Thus, the political executive consists of very few persons who come to office on the basis of the support of the people through elections. Administrative executive includes Secretaries, police, military, etc. The civil service, known as the permanent executive, includes all People in administration from top to bottom and is known as administration or bureaucracy.

The policy implementation function is the job of the permanent civil servants who actually run the various departments of the government. The executive is the most visible and the prominent organ of the government. Government Officials are seen almost everyday and the people come in their contact on many occasions. The people are directly affected by the actions of the executive. The executive is often referred to as the government.

Various Forms of Executive-

(1) Real (Actual) and Nominal (Titular) Executive-

The real executive is one who, in fact, really exercises the executive powers vested in him. Real executive is responsible for thce execution of the laws. Nominal executive exercises no powers and performs no functions. The executive which enjoys power and authority only in name or on paper is known as nominal executive.

The nominal executive constitutionally possesses powers, but does not exercise them. The nominal or the titular executive serves as a symbol of national unity, performing certain ceremonial functions' of the State. Further, the nominal executive provides stability; continuity and tradition without enjoying any real power. A nominal executive reigns, but does not rule. A real executive rules, but does not reign.

The British Crown and Indian President are the examples of nominal executives. The American President, the British Prime Minister and the Indian Prime Minister are the examples of the real executives. But, in a Presidential type of government, as in the U.S.A., the real executive and the nominal executive are combined in the single office of the President.

(2) Single and plural executive.—

The executive may be distinguished on the basis of the number of people who exercise the executive power. A single executive is one in which ultimate executive authority is enjoyed by one single individual. In a plural executive system, executive authority is distributed among a group of people. The difference between the two is made not on the basis of number, but on the basis of responsibility.

The American President is an example of a single executive where all executive authority is subordinate to the President. The Cabinets in Britain and India, though consists of many persons acts as one man, lives as one man and dies as one man. So we can say in India and the U.K., there is single executive.

Plural executive is in existence in Switzerland, as the executive power is vested in a commission of seven men known as the Bundestrat or the Federal Council. The Federal Council is chosen every four years by the Federal Assembly and one of its members is annually elect serve as its chairman and is designated as President. The office of the President rotates among the members of the Federal Council on the basis of seniority. The President is in no way superior to other members of the Federal Council.

Where executive power is concentrated in a single person prompt and quick administrative decision and actions cool possible. It also ensures a consistent policy and secrecy in procedures which may become impossible when authority is distributed among several persons or agencies. However, concentration of power might lead to absolute dictatorship and authoritarian tendencies.

Plural executive may be able to exercise better judgment as a of collective wisdom and formulate policies along rational lines. It may also prove anadequate safeguard against the dangers of opposition and tyrannical tendencies often noticeable in a single head.

 Plural executive, because of feeble authority and divided responsibility may provoke discussions among the members regulating in the collapse of the entire system. It may not always be able to give proper direction and leadership to government. Modern political opinion is in favour of unity in the organisation of the executive than a single executive.

(3) Hereditary, Elective and Nominated Executive-

In hereditary executive, the executive comes into office through succession or inheritance. In this system, the person who assumes executive powers exercises them throughout his life. When the hereditary executive dies, normally his eldest son assumes the executive powers. Hereditary executive is in vogue in the U.K., Japan, Nepal, Bhutan, etc.

The elected executive is one who is elected by the people either directly or indirectly. The term of the elected executive is limited and specified to a particular period. He is not allowed to continue in office throughout his life. The indirectly elected Presidential executive is in existence in the U.S.A., India. But, the executive of Chile, Mexico, Brazil, etc. are elected directly by the people.

If the executive is nominated by the executive of another country, the executive is called nominated executive. The Governor-General of Canada and Australia are nominated by the British Queen, of course, on the recommendations of the governments of the respective countries.

(4) Political and Permanent (or Non-Political) executive-

Executive is also classified into political and permanent executive. Political executive consists of the popularly elected leaders who become Ministers in government. It is based on the political party system. It is temporary and changes from time to It consists of politicians. Permanent executive, which is also called as permanent civil service, consists of a vast body of officials, who hold a permanent tenure but abstain from any activity o f participation in political life.

 The permanent executive refers to the civil service or the large body of skilled officials who actually deal vith the day to day administration and have nothing to do politics of the government or the State. They are ordinarily recruited into service on the basis of merit in a comparative examination. They are organised into several departments under the charge of a political Minister.

Council of Ministers in India and the U.K. and the President of the U.S.A. are political executives. Secretaries and joint Secretaries, administrative servants constitute permanent executive.

(5) Parliamentary and Non-Parliamentary Executives.—

Parliamentary executive is elected, controlled and removed by the legislature. It is responsible to and dependent on the legislature. In short, in this system, the legislature becomes the, master and the executive simply acts as a slave. The U.K, and India are examples of Parliamentary executive.

Non-Parliamentary executive is not responsible to the legislature. It is directly elected by and responsible to people, Legislature cannot elect, control, or remove the executive. The U.S.A. is the best example of the non-parliamentary executive.

Tenure of the Executive

'Tenure' means term of office. Hereditary executive is in power for a life time. The longer the term, the executive feels entrenched in office and there is a likelihood of abuse of authority.

The tenure of elected executive is fixed, In India, executive is elected for a period of five years. In the U.S.A., it is elected for four years. In France, it is elected for seven years. There is the maximum limit also for executive to remain in office. In the U.S.A., the President (executive) can be elected for two terms (8 years) only. In India, the President, according to Constitution, can remain in power for two terms only (10 years). There is no fixed term for the Cabinet Governments. Cabinets remain in power as long as they are supported by Parliament.

The term of the executive should be neither too long short not long enough to succumb to the temptations of abuse ofpower or too short to deny benefit of a good polity. The right step would be eligibility for re-election for a second term, if the single term does not exceed four to five years. An eight or ten year period is sufficiently long to acquire administrative experience and implement long term schemes of development while restricting the scope from becoming autocratic.

Powers and functions of the executive:

The functions of the executive differ from country to country depending upon the nature of government. However, in general, executive performs the following important functions in modern times:

(i) Administrative Functions (or Enforcement of Law and Maintenance of Order)-

Administrative functions implies the execution of laws and administration of various departments of the government. It is the primary job of the executive to maintain the law and order in the society. For this purpose it has the police force gt its disposal. It implements all those laws approved by the legislature. The departments of the government are properly organised and manned by skilled officials, some of whom may be appointed through its power.

Each department is engaged in a particular field or activity catering to a specific service. There is also co-ordination of functions among the various departments and it falls to the lot of the political executive to see that the machinery works smoothly. Further, it formulates the policies of the Government and implements them for furthering the interests and welfare of the people.

(2) Diplomatic functions (External Administration or Conducting the Foreign Relations)-

The diplomatic functions of the executive relates to his conduct of foreign relations. In modern times, no nation can live in isolation. Hence, it has to maintain and promote friendship with other countries for promoting goodwill, trade and commerce. For this purpose, the chief executive appoints Ambassadors in foreign countries. The executive concludes treaties and agreements on various subjects in the spheres of business, commerce, trade, education, culture, defence, etc. It sends peace missions for cementing the ties with other States. It arranges ceremonial welcome and the tour Programmes to the foreign heads.

(3) Military Functions (protecting Territorial integrity).- 

It is the function of the chief executive to protect the territorial integrity of the State against external invasion. The executive head is usually the commander-in-chief of the military forces of the State. It maintains armed forces. It declares war and concludes peace subject to the prescribed procedure.

 In times of war, the executive exercises enormous powers. He may establish martial law and suspend the Constitutional rights of the citizens. He can expand the authority of government on the grounds of military necessary.

In U.S.A. the Congress alone is empowered to declare war, but the president my pressurise the Congress. The people consider it as a temporary of to tide over a national crisis. The actual declaration of war or its terminaption and conclusion of peace requires the consent of the legislature because of its control over the finances.

(4) Legislative functions.-

In countries with parliamentary system of government the executive heads are the involved in law-making. As members of the legislature, the Ministers pilot bills, participate in the deliberations, defend their policies and carry through legislative business backed by the majority support of the legislature.

The executive enjoys supreme authority under this system by its power to summon, prorogue or dissolve the legislature. The executive issues ordinances when legislature is not in session. It gives approval to the bills passed be the legislature to make them Acts. The executive can veto any bill and send it back to the legislature for the reconsideration. Through his veto power, messages, etc., the American President has come to exercise considerable influence on the legislature.

In most modern States, the executive has the power of, delegated legislation. Delegated legislation puts wider discretionary powers in the legislative field in the hands of the executive.

(5) Financial functions.-

The executive is also entrusted with certain financial functions. It prepares the budget and presents it to the legislature. It imposes and collects different taxes from the people and institutions with the permission of the legislature. Further, after the approval of the legislature, it allocates resources to different departments to utilise for the developmental activities.

It also regulates and controls the expenditure incurred by the departments. through audit. It also makes public debts and brings loans from the citizens and from the foreign countries for financing several public welfare and planner schemes. The executive performs all the functions required for financial stability and for economic development of the country

(6) Judicial functions-

The executive has the power making judicial appointment. It is entrusted with the reprieve or pardon criminals on appropriate grounds. The executive is also entitled to grant amnesty to persons who have taken part revolutionary movement. It takes steps for the setting up special courts to enquire into the allegations levelled against Ministers and bureaucrats.

 It removes the judges on the grtninables proved misbehaviour, inefficiency and other allegations. lt enables review of cases where new evidence is discovered and makes possible a consideration of extending circumstances to which the law cannot give cognizance.

(7) Miscellaneous functions.—

The executive performs a number of welfare functions such as providing educational facilities to the people, expanding transport and communication facilities, promoting commerce and trade in the State.

Since the State is emerging as a welfare State, it controls, legislates and directs the affairs of nationalised industries.

The chief executive is entrusted the job of getting plans translated and then implemented. The chief executive is entrusted with vast emergency powers to protect the integrity and economy of the country.

The executive is responsible for seeing that public utility services like railways, posts and telegraphs, roadways, etc. are properly maintained.

DISCLAIMER-

The author is a law student and loves sharing her knowledge with all. The intention is to enlighten people with general legal knowledge. The content of this article is taken from various sources for educational purpose.