Political Executives: Definition and Responsibilities

Definition of Political Executives

• The executive branch's role is implementing laws and policies
• Political executives consist of decision-makers responsible for directing and coordinating government policy
• In contrast to the official executive, or bureaucracy, the political executive is also known as 'the government of the day' or 'the administration'
• The executive branch formulates and implements government policy
• Political development has largely consisted of efforts to restrain executives, either by forcing them to work within a constitutional framework or by making them accountable to a popular assembly or democratic electorate
• Political executives, especially chief executives, are viewed as the face of politics by the general public because they provide political leadership

Executive Responsibilities

• The executive, legislative, and judicial branches are all separated to analyze government in a traditional way.
• Three distinct branches of government:
• Legislatures make law and enact legislation
• Executives put laws into effect and see to their execution.
• Judiciaries interpret laws and rule on their meaning
• The duties of the executive branch are wider and more complex than the other branches
• The executive branch's composition is also complex

Categories of Executives

• Differentiation exists between the 'political' executive, and the 'bureaucratic' executive to highlight the differences between politicians and civil servants
• Inside executives, different levels of status and responsibility have been identified
• Contrary to assemblies, executive branches are usually pyramidal

Parliamentary Executive

• Consists of a Prime Minister and Cabinet composed of members drawn from Parliament
• Cabinet is accountable to the parliament, and formed through parliamentary elections
• In parliamentary systems/ Westminster system of government, the political executive is made up of elected politicians, ministers who are accountable to and drawn from the assembly
• They develop policy in line with the political and ideological goals of their party, and oversee its execution
• The official executive includes appointed and professional civil servants who give advice and implement policy

Presidential Executive

• Senior civil servants make a significant contribution to policy-making and are frequently made of temporary, politically committed advisers
• The overlap is frequently bigger in presidential executives
• The president of the United States is the only elected politician in the executive branch
• Cabinet members are appointed officials, and many senior and middle-ranking civil servants are politically partisan and temporary

Presidential Executive Definition

• An executive headed by a president is separately elected, holds political and constitutional authority from the parliament.
• In communist executives, such as China and the USSR, the distinction is all but rendered irrelevant

Structure of Executive Branches

• Hierarchical divisions within executive branches are simpler to define
• Executives tend to be centralized around a single leader
• It is possible to identify two independent posts, though they may be held by the same person

Head of State vs Head of Government

• The head of state is a position of formal authority with mostly symbolic value
• The head of government, or chief executive, is a position that involves political responsibilities and policy-making
• Posts in parliamentary systems are often separate while executive presidents 'wear two hats’
• A prime minister serves as chief executive and the post of head of state is usually held by a non-partisan figurehead
• Ministers are responsible for developing or implementing policy in certain areas

Hierarchical Structure

• There is often a hierarchy among top officials based on the importance of their policy areas
• A cabinet is a group of senior ministers that convenes on a regular basis under the leadership of the chief executive
• Cabinets have duties ranging from sharing policy-making power in a collaborative leadership to giving advice
• Bureaucrats and administrators formulate policy
• Enforcement agencies such as the police and armed forces put government policy into action

Functions of political executives

• Political executives must provide leadership
• Executives are the core of the state apparatus
• Members of the political executive carry out multiple functions
• Ceremonial, policy-making, popular, bureaucratic, and crisis leadership are the most important elements

Ceremonial Leadership

• Heads of state, chief executives, and senior ministers symbolize the state
• The role involves state functions, foreign visits, international conferences, receiving other heads of state, and bestowing honours
• Responsibilities are generally carried out by non-executive presidents and constitutional monarchs

Policy-Making Leadership

• The political executive's primary function is to guide and supervise the policy process
• Political executives are counted on to create coherent economic and social programmers in order to manage the state’s external relations correctly

Legislative Powers

• Growing presidential legislative powers are a result
• Political executives also use law-making powers, using orders and instruments
• Political parties and interest groups initiate some policy
• Civil servants or bureaucrats may play a key role in policy formation because of their knowledge
• Political executive establishes the course of government policy

Popular Leadership

• This is crucial to the character, stability and legitimacy of the regime
• The executive mobilizes support
• Policy becomes more difficult and perhaps fails to implement without this support

Bureaucratic Leadership

• The political executive is burdened with bureaucratic and administrative duties
• Top management is in charge of governing
• Work is organized departmentally, with senior ministers and bureaucrats being responsible for managing particular policy areas
• High-level policy coordination is achieved through a cabinet

Crisis Leadership

• The executive acts swiftly, and it's particularly crucial because it allows for personal leadership
• Political executives are granted near-dictatorial powers in times of war
• Executives are permitted to seize 'emergency powers' when faced with severe domestic issues
• Power to invoke 'states of emergency' must be used with caution and not as a mean to suppress political dissent

Presidents

• A president is a formal head of state, similar to a monarch or emperor in other nations
• However, there is an important contrast between constitutional presidents and executive leader

Presidents: Constitutional vs Executive

• Constitutional or non-executive presidents in India, Israel, and Germany have limited duties that are primarily ceremonial
• President is a figurehead who exercises executive power through a prime minister or cabinet
• Executive presidents combine the formal responsibilities of a head of state with executive power
• Presidents of this kind form the foundation of what is known as 'presidential administration'

Presidential Executives: Limited vs Unlimited

• Presidential executives may be limited or unlimited
• A popularly chosen legislature limits the president's powers
• The United States is the best-known example of limited presidentialism
• Impeachment in the US is a formal process for removing a public official

Presidential Executives: Unlimited

• President possesses all executive authority and can control executive branch subordinates
• This diminishes Congress's powers and limitations
• Dictatorship is the norm in this setting

Prime Ministers

• The modern executives can be classified as parliamentary
• Presidential systems differ significantly from parliamentary systems in executive power structures and forms
• Parliamentary executives have three essential features:

Parliamentary Executives: Essential Features

• Executive power derives from the assembly and party politics
• Heads of state must fulfil ceremonial roles
• The political executive is drawn from the assembly
• No separation of legislature and executive
• The assembly is directly accountable to the executive

Prime Ministers

• Powers are derived from government leadership
• The control of patronage as an ability to promote or demote
• The premiership relies on position as party leader
• Not only are the positions of prime minister is created of party
• As well as the place to build an image for a national leader

Prime Ministers and Unity

• Determinants are strengths of the party, the strength of parliament and ministers party
• Factional rivalry ensured tenure within the LDP where the tenure of prime ministers ministers is short and cabinets reconstructed

Cabinets

• Nearly all political executives have some sort of cabinet
• France's cabinet is known and 'Council of Ministers', and China's is known as a 'Politburo'
• It represent and ministered to the government
• Widespread usage demonstrates political and administrative the procedures for the political procedures
• Presenting Collective procedure to the public and government is most important
• An administrative device to ensure effective coordination of government policy
• If not government would consist of rival

Variations in the Role of Cabinets

• The importance is different from state to state
• Cabinets serve the executive of the president
• Serves by policy adviser and not a policy influencer
• Executive is at a apex with states that respect the government

Functions of Cabinets

• Loyalty among prime ministers ministers can fear that
• Divided leadership and defeat
• It has claimed pressure from within cabinet on figures
• It has claimed that ministers has failed to secure re-election

Conclusion

• The executive is the essential core of government
• Government is not absolute and required an assembly
• Political system is dependent on public perception
• The hopes may be proved wrong
• To be difficult in governments would be hard to come by