Executive Class 11 Political Science

Table of Contents
1. What is an Executive?
2. Principal functions of the Executive
3. Different types of Executive
4. Parliamentary executive in India
5. The President
6. Powers and functions of the President
7. The Vice-President of India
8. Prime Minister and Council of Ministers
9. Permanent Executive: Bureaucracy
10. Conclusion
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What is an Executive?

The organ of government that primarily looks after the tasks of implementation, administration and day-to-day governance is called the executive. The executive gives effect to laws made by the legislature and is responsible for public administration and the delivery of services.

Principal functions of the Executive

• The executive is responsible for the implementation of laws and policies adopted by the legislature.
• The executive participates in the framing and formulation of policy and public programmes.
• The executive includes constitutional office-holders such as the Head of State and the Head of Government, political executives such as ministers, and the permanent administrative machinery (civil servants and public officials).
• The executive manages administration, law and order, foreign relations, defence and public finances in accordance with constitutional provisions.

Different types of Executive

• Presidential system: The President is both Head of State and Head of Government. The President is directly elected and holds substantial executive authority in both theory and practice. 
  Countries: United States, Brazil and many Latin American states.
• Semi-Presidential Executive: The President and a separate Prime Minister share executive powers. The President is usually directly elected; the Prime Minister may belong to the same or a different political party. 
  Countries: France, Russia, Sri Lanka.
• Parliamentary system: The Prime Minister is the Head of Government and holds effective executive power; the President or Monarch is usually a nominal Head of State with a largely ceremonial role. Countries: United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Italy, Portugal.

Parliamentary executive in India

India adopted the parliamentary form of government at the Union and State levels. Experience under the Government of India Acts (1919 and 1935) showed that parliamentary government allowed the executive to be more directly controlled by representatives of the people.

Why did India opt for the parliamentary form?

• To ensure that the government would be sensitive to public expectations and would be responsible and accountable to elected representatives.
• The presidential executive concentrates executive authority in a single office and may encourage a personality-centred style of politics; the parliamentary model disperses executive power across a council of ministers responsible to the legislature.
• Parliamentary government provides a clear mechanism of legislative control over the executive through collective responsibility and confidence procedures.

What is the parliamentary form of system?

The President is the formal Head of State at the Union level. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers run the government at the national level. At the State level, the executive comprises the Governor and the Chief Minister with the State Council of Ministers.

The President

• The President is the highest constitutional executive authority of the Union.
• The Constitution vests all the executive powers of the Union in the President.
• The President is the Head of State and represents the Republic of India in formal and ceremonial functions.
• The President is often described as the first citizen of India.

Article 58

: Qualifications for election as President

• Must be a citizen of India.
• Must have completed the age of 35 years.
• Must be qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha.
• Must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or a state government.

Procedure of election of the President

The President is elected indirectly by an Electoral College consisting of:

• Members of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha).
• Members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
• Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

Powers and functions of the President

The President plays an important constitutional and ceremonial role. Presidential powers are exercised during normal times and under conditions of emergency. Some powers are exercised on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers; others have limited discretionary scope.

A. Executive powers

• The President appoints the Prime Minister and, on the PM's advice, the other ministers.
• The President appoints the Chief Justice and other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
• The President appoints the Chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
• The President appoints key constitutional officers: CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), the Attorney-General, the Chief Election Commissioner and others.

B. Legislative powers

• The President summons and prorogues sessions of Parliament and can dissolve the Lok Sabha.
• The President can summon a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament to resolve deadlocks.
• The President can promulgate ordinances when Parliament is not in session; such ordinances must be approved by Parliament later.

C. Judicial powers

• Article 72 empowers the President to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of punishment or to commute sentences in certain cases under central laws.
• These powers include clemency in respect of sentences in offences against central laws, including death sentences.

D. Pardoning powers of the President

The President's pardoning powers may take the following forms:

1. Pardon - complete remission of sentence.
2. Reprieve - temporary suspension of sentence, often to grant time for appeal.
3. Remission - reduction in the period of sentence without changing its character.
4. Respite - reduction of sentence for offenders under special circumstances, for example on grounds of pregnancy or severe illness.
5. Commutation - substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter one.

The President is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and performs certain defence-related functions.

E. Emergency powers of the President

The President may proclaim different types of emergencies under the Constitution:

• National Emergency (Article 352): Proclaimed in case of war, external aggression or armed rebellion.
• President's Rule / Constitutional Emergency (Article 356): Proclaimed when there is a failure of constitutional machinery in a state.
• Financial Emergency (Article 360): Proclaimed if the financial stability or credit of India is threatened.

Article 74(1) states that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions; ordinarily the President acts according to such advice.

F. Discretionary powers of the President

• The President has the right to be informed about all important matters and discussions of the Council of Ministers.
• The Prime Minister is constitutionally obliged to provide any information that the President seeks.
• The President may communicate directly with the Prime Minister, often through written messages, to convey views on national issues.

Powers exercised by the President at his own discretion:

• Reconsideration of decisions of the Council of Ministers.
• Veto power over non-money bills.
• Appointment of the Prime Minister when no party or coalition has a clear majority.
• Every bill passed by Parliament of India is sent to the President for assent before it becomes law.
• The President can return a non-money bill for reconsideration by Parliament.
• This veto power is limited, because if Parliament passes the bill again, the President must give assent.
• The Constitution does not specify a time limit within which the President must return the bill.
• As a result, the President can keep a bill pending indefinitely, an informal power often called a "pocket veto."
• When no party secures a clear majority in the Lok Sabha after elections, the President must use personal judgement to appoint a Prime Minister.
• In such cases, the President decides who is most likely to command majority support and form a stable government.

The Vice-President of India

• The Vice-President is elected for a term of five years by an electoral college that includes members of both Houses of Parliament; State legislature members do not participate in this election.
• The Vice-President can be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha.
• The Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
• When a vacancy occurs in the office of the President due to death, resignation, removal or other reasons, the Vice-President acts as President until a new President is elected.

Prime Minister and Council of Ministers

• The Prime Minister is the head of the Council of Ministers and the most important political executive at the national level.
• The President exercises most of his powers on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.
• In the parliamentary system it is essential that the Prime Minister commands the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha; this majority support is a primary source of the Prime Minister's political power.
• The Prime Minister decides who will be ministers in the Council of Ministers, allocates portfolios and ranks (Cabinet Minister, Minister of State, Deputy Minister).
• The Prime Minister is the principal link between the Council of Ministers, the President and the Parliament.
• All ministers must be members of Parliament; a non-member can be appointed minister but must get elected to either House within six months.

Size of the Council of Ministers

• The 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003 provides that the Council of Ministers in the Union shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha; a similar limit applies to State cabinets with reference to the State Legislative Assembly.
• The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha: if it loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha it must resign.
• The Council operates as an executive committee of the Parliament and governs collectively on its behalf.

Collective responsibility

• The principle of collective responsibility means that the entire Council of Ministers stands or falls together: if the Lok Sabha passes a vote of no confidence against the Council, the entire Council must resign.
• Ministers are bound by cabinet decisions; if a minister cannot accept a cabinet decision they are expected to resign.
• The resignation or death of the Prime Minister results in the dissolution of the Council of Ministers; the resignation or death of an individual minister creates only a ministerial vacancy.
• The Prime Minister's sources of influence include leadership of the Council of Ministers, leadership in the Lok Sabha, access to the administrative machinery and public visibility.

At the State level

• States follow the same parliamentary principles: the Governor is the formal Head of State of the State, while the Chief Minister is the Head of Government.
• The Governor is appointed by the President and often has more discretionary powers on paper than the Chief Minister, but the political executive at the State level is the Chief Minister who must command majority support in the State Assembly.
• Collective responsibility, council formation and ministerial appointment work on the same basic rules as at the Union level.

Permanent Executive: Bureaucracy

• The permanent executive or bureaucracy comprises career civil servants and administrative personnel who implement government policies and run day-to-day administration.
• The executive branch therefore includes political executives (Prime Minister and ministers) and the administrative machinery (bureaucracy) that executes policies.
• In a democracy, ministers (political executives) are responsible for governing and supervising the administration; the legislature also exercises oversight to ensure administration follows law and policy.
• The Indian bureaucracy consists of All-India Services (for example, the IAS, IPS), State Services, local government employees, and technical and managerial staff running public sector undertakings and agencies.
• Civil servants for the Union are recruited mainly through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC); States have their own public service commissions. Members of the public service commissions are appointed for fixed terms and can be removed only after an enquiry conducted by a judge of the Supreme Court.
• The bureaucracy implements welfare policies and public schemes; it is the principal means by which government programmes reach citizens.
• The bureaucracy is sometimes criticised for being insensitive to citizens, slow, or excessively rule-bound; reforms and training are considered necessary to make administration more responsive.

Conclusion

The executive implements law and policy, administers public affairs, and manages the machinery of government. In India the parliamentary executive places the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers at the centre of political power, with the President as the formal Head of State who acts largely on ministerial advice but retains important constitutional powers. The permanent executive (bureaucracy) provides continuity by administering and implementing the policies decided by the political executive.