NCERT

Shorts The Executive

POLITY

Three Organs of Government

• The legislature, executive, and judiciary are the three organs of government.

• The Constitution ensures that they work in coordination with each other and maintain a balance among themselves.

• In a parliamentary system, the executive and the legislature are interdependent: the legislature controls the
executive, and, in turn, is controlled by the executive.

Executive
• It is the branch of government responsible for the implementation of laws and policies adopted by the legislature.

• It is often involved in the framing of policy.

• It includes presidents, prime ministers, and ministers, and administrative machinery (civil servants).

• They are called executive because they are in charge of the ‘execution’ of the policies of the government.

• So we can equate the executive with the government.

Types of Executive
Political Executive
• It is elected by the people for a specific period.

• It includes the heads of government and their ministers, saddled with the overall responsibility of government
policy.

Permanent Executive
• It includes those responsible for the day to day administration, that is bureaucracy.

• These are people who are appointed on a long-term basis.

• This is also called civil services.

• They remain in office even when the ruling party changes.

• These officers work under the political executive and assist them in carrying out the day-to-day administration.

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Why Political Executive is Powerful than Permanent Executive?
• In a democracy the will of the people is supreme.

• The minister is an elected representative of the people and thus empowered to exercise the will of the people on
their behalf.

• She is finally answerable to the people for all the consequences of her decision.

• That is why the minister takes all the final decisions and enjoys more powers.

Examples of different types of Systems of Government

• The USA has a presidential system and executive powers are in the hands of the president.

• Canada has a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy where Queen Elizabeth II is the formal
chief of state and the prime minister is the head of government.

• In France, both the president and the prime minister are a part of the semi-presidential system.

• Japan has a parliamentary system with the Emperor as the head of the state and the prime minister as the head of
government.

• Italy has a parliamentary system with the president as the formal head of state and the prime minister as the head
of government.

• Russia has a semi-presidential system where the president is the head of state and the prime minister, who is
appointed by the president, is the head of government.

• Germany has a parliamentary system in which the president is the ceremonial head of state and the chancellor is
the head of government.

Democracy and Monarchy

Democracy
• Here, it is the people who give the government the power.

 They do this through elections in which they vote for particular persons and elect them.

• Once elected, these persons form the government.

• In a democracy, the government has to explain its actions and defend its decisions to the people.

Monarchy
• Here the Monarch (king or queen) has the power to make decisions and run the government.

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• The monarch may have a small group of people to discuss matters with, but the final decision-making power remains
with the monarch.

• Unlike in a democracy, kings and queens do not have to explain their actions or defend the decisions they make.

Types of Government
Presidential Form of Government

• Here the president is the Head of the state as well as head of government and he/she is very powerful, both in
theory and practice.

• Countries with such a system include the United States, Brazil, and most nations in Latin America.

Parliamentary Form of Government

• Here the prime minister is the head of government.

• Most parliamentary systems have a president or a monarch who is the nominal Head of state.

• The role of the president or monarch is primarily ceremonial and the prime minister along with the cabinet wields
effective power.

• Countries with such a system include Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom as well as Portugal.

Semi-Presidential Form of Government

• It has both a president and a prime minister but unlike the parliamentary system, the president may possess
significant day-to-day powers.

• Here it is possible that sometimes the president and the prime minister may belong to the same party and at times
they may belong to two different parties and thus, would be opposed to each other.

• Countries with such a system include France, Russia, Sri Lanka, etc.

Presidential Form of Government - USA

• In many countries of the world, the President is both the head of the state and the head of the government.

• The President of the United States of America is the most well-known example of this kind of President.

• The US President is directly elected by the people.

• He personally chooses and appoints all Ministers.

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• The law-making is still done by the legislature (called the Congress in the US), but the president can veto any law.

• Most importantly, the president does not need the support of the majority of members in Congress and neither is
he answerable to them.

• He has a fixed tenure of four years and completes it even if his party does not have a majority in Congress.

Functions of Government
• Every country needs a government to make decisions and get things done.

• A Government performs functions such as:

 It takes action on many social issues, for example, it has several programs to help the poor.

 Run services such as postal and railway services.

 Protect the boundaries of the country and maintain peaceful relations with other countries.

 Organize aid and assistance during disasters etc.

Levels of Government
• The government works at different levels:

 At the Local Level.

 It means the government in your village, town, or locality.

 At the State Level.

 It means the government which covers an entire state like Haryana or Assam.

 At the National Level.

 It relates to the entire country.

Why India Adopted Parliamentary System Both at the National and

State Levels?
• India already had some experience running the parliamentary system under the Acts of 1919 and 1935.

• The makers of the Indian Constitution wanted to ensure that the government would be sensitive to public
expectations and would be responsible and accountable.

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• The makers of the Indian Constitution wanted a government that would have a strong executive branch, but at the
same time, enough safeguards should be there to check against the personality cult.

• There are many mechanisms in Parliamentary System that ensure that the executive will be answerable to and
controlled by the legislature or people’s representatives.

Parliamentary Executive in India

• According to this system, there is a President who is the formal Head of the state of India and the Prime Minister
and the Council of Ministers, which run the government at the national level.

• At the State level, the executive comprises the Governor and the Chief Minister, and the Council of Ministers.

The President
• The President is the head of the State.

 In the Indian political system, the head of the State exercises only nominal powers.

• The President of India is like the Queen of Britain whose functions are to a large extent ceremonial.

• The Constitution of India vests the executive power of the Union formally in the President.

 In reality, the President exercises these powers through the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime
Minister.

• He/she elected for a period of five years.

• The President is not elected directly by the people.

 The elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and the elected Members of the Legislative Assemblies (MLAs)
elect her.

• A candidate standing for President’s post has to get a majority of votes to win the election.

 This ensures that the President can be seen to represent the entire nation.

• Election according to the principle of proportional representation with the single transferable vote.

• Impeachment Process

 He/she can be removed from office only by Parliament with a special majority (two by third of the total
membership).

 The only ground for impeachment – Violation of the Constitution.

• The President supervises the overall functioning of all the political institutions in the country so that they operate in
harmony to achieve the objectives of the State.

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Powers of the President
• All governmental activities take place in the name of the President.

• All laws and major policy decisions of the government are issued in her name.

• All major appointments are made in the name of the President.

 These include the appointment of the Chief Justice of India, the Judges of the Supreme Court and the High
Courts of the states, the Governors of the states, the Election Commissioners, ambassadors to other
countries, etc.

• All international treaties and agreements are made in the name of the President.

• The President is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India.

• President exercises all these powers only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

 The President can ask the Council of Ministers to reconsider its advice.

• But if the same advice is given again, she is bound to act according to it.

• Article 74 (1) - There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the
President who shall in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.

• A specific mention was made in the Constitution by an amendment that the advice of the Council of Ministers will
be binding on the President.

• Similarly, a bill passed by the Parliament becomes a law only after the President gives assent to it.

• If the President wants, she can delay this for some time and send the bill back to Parliament for reconsideration.

 But if Parliament passes the bill again, she has to sign it.

• Constitutionally, the President has a right to be informed of all important matters and deliberations of the Council
of Ministers.

• The Prime Minister is obliged to furnish all the information that the President may call for.

 The President often writes to the Prime Minister and expresses his views on matters confronting the
country.

• Besides this, there are at least three situations where the President can exercise the powers using his or her own
discretion.

Discretionary Powers of the President

1. The President can send back the advice given by the Council of Ministers and ask the Council to reconsider the
decision.

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 • Although, the Council can still send back the same advice and the President would then be bound by that
advice.

 Such a request by the President to reconsider the decision would naturally carry a lot of weight.

2. The President has veto power by which he can withhold or refuse to give assent to Bills (other than Money Bill)
passed by the Parliament.

• Every bill passed by the Parliament goes to the President for his assent before it becomes a law.

 The President can send the bill back to Parliament asking it to reconsider the bill.

 This ‘veto’ power is limited because, if the Parliament passes the same bill again and sends it back
to the President, then, the President has to give assent to that bill.

 However, there is no mention in the Constitution about the time limit within which the President
must send the bill back for reconsideration.

 This means that the President can just keep the bill pending with him without any time limit. This
Veto Power is referred to as Pocket Veto.

3. To Appoint the Prime Minister in certain political conditions.

• Normally, in the parliamentary system, a leader who has the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha would
be appointed as Prime Minister by the President.

 When no leader has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha or unable to forge alliances after an election,
then the President has to decide whom to appoint as the PM.

 From 1989, due to the increased formation of coalitions and unstable governments, the importance
of the presidential office is increased.

Role of the President

• To act as a Head of the State at all times to represent the entire country.

• To appoint the Prime Minister (in normal situations, when a council of ministers lose the support of the legislature
and even when no party has a clear majority after an election).

The Vice President of India

• He/she is elected for five years.

• Election method - similar to that of the President.

 The only difference is that members of State legislatures are not part of the electoral college.

• He/she may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority and agreed to by
the Lok Sabha.
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Powers of the Vice President
• He/she acts as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

• He/she takes over the office of the President when there is a vacancy by reasons of death, resignation, removal by
impeachment, or otherwise.

 He/she acts as the President only until a new President is elected.

Prime Minister and Council of Ministers

Prime Minister
• Prime Minister is the most important political institution in the country.

• The President appoints the Prime Minister.

 But the President cannot appoint anyone she likes.

 The President appoints the leader of the majority party or the coalition of parties that commands a majority
in the Lok Sabha, as Prime Minister.

 In case no single party or alliance gets a majority, the President appoints the person most likely to secure
majority support.

• The Prime Minister does not have a fixed tenure.

 He continues in power so long as he remains the leader of the majority party or coalition.

 In the case of a coalition, he/she must be acceptable to most partners of the coalition.

 The moment the majority in the Lok Sabha is lost, the Prime Minister loses the office.

• The Council of Ministers is headed by the Prime Minister.

 There is no Council of Ministers without the Prime Minister.

Powers of the Prime Minister

• The Constitution does not say very much about the powers of the Prime Minister or the ministers or their
relationship with each other.

• He decides who will be the ministers in the Council of Ministers.

• But as head of the government, the Prime Minister has wide-ranging powers.

 He chairs Cabinet meetings.

 He coordinates the work of different Departments.

 His decisions are final in case disagreements arise between Departments.

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  He exercises general supervision of different ministries.

 All ministers work under his leadership.

 The Prime Minister distributes and redistributes work to the ministers.

 He also has the power to dismiss ministers.

 When the Prime Minister quits, the entire ministry quits.

• Thus, if the Cabinet is the most powerful institution in India, within the Cabinet it is the Prime Minister.

• The powers of the Prime Minister in all parliamentary democracies of the world have increased so much in recent
decades that parliamentary democracies are sometimes seen as Prime Ministerial form of government.

• The Prime Minister acts as a link between the Council of Ministers on the one hand and the President as well as the
Parliament on the other.

 It is this role of the Prime Minister which led Pt. Nehru to describe him as ‘the linchpin of Government’.

• The constitutional obligation of the PM is to communicate to the President all decisions of the Council of Ministers
relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation.

Council of Ministers
• After the appointment of the Prime Minister, the President appoints other ministers on the advice of the Prime
Minister.

• The Ministers are usually from the party or the coalition that has the majority in the Lok Sabha.

• The Prime Minister is free to choose ministers, as long as they are members of Parliament.

• Sometimes, a person who is not a member of Parliament can also become a minister.

 But such a person has to get elected to one of the Houses of Parliament within six months of appointment as
minister.

• Council of Ministers is the official name for the body that includes all the Ministers.

• It usually has 60 to 80 Ministers of different ranks.

• Size of the Council of Ministers

 According to the 91st Amendment Act (2003), the size of the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15
percent of the total number of members of the House of the People (or Assembly, in the case of the States).

• The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.

 The principle indicates that the ministry is an executive committee of the Parliament and it collectively
governs on behalf of the Parliament.

 This provision means that a Ministry which loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha is obliged to resign.

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• Collective responsibility is based on the principle of the solidarity of the cabinet.

 It implies that a vote of no confidence even against a single minister leads to the resignation of the entire
Council of Ministers.

 It also indicates that if a minister does not agree with a policy or decision of the cabinet, he or she must
either accept the decision or resign.

• The position of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has been unassailable whenever a single political party
has secured a majority in the Lok Sabha.

Types of Ministers
• Cabinet Ministers are usually top-level leaders of the ruling party or parties who are in charge of the major
ministries.

 Usually, the Cabinet Ministers meet to take decisions in the name of the Council of Ministers.

 The cabinet is thus the inner ring of the Council of Ministers.

 It comprises about 25 ministers.

• Ministers of State with independent charge are usually in charge of smaller Ministries.

• They participate in the Cabinet meetings only when specially invited.

• Ministers of State are attached to and required to assist Cabinet Ministers.

Cabinet Form of Government

• Since it is not practical for all ministers to meet regularly and discuss everything, the decisions are taken in Cabinet
meetings.

 That is why parliamentary democracy in most countries is often known as the Cabinet form of government.

• The Cabinet works as a team.

 The ministers may have different views and opinions, but everyone has to own up to every decision of the
Cabinet.

 No minister can openly criticize any decision of the government, even if it is about another Ministry or
Department.

Developments after the Formation of Coalition Governments

• A growing discretionary role of the President in the selection of Prime Ministers.

• Increased consultation between political partners, leading to erosion of prime ministerial authority.

• It brought restrictions on various prerogatives of the Prime Minister like choosing the ministers and deciding their
ranks and portfolios.

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• Even the policies and programs of the government cannot be decided by the PM alone

 Policies are framed after a lot of negotiations and compromises among the allies.

• Though the Chief Minister, like the Prime Minister, is the leader of the majority party in the Assembly, the Governor
has more discretionary powers.

• In the same manner as the PM at Centre, Chief Ministers of the States choose ministers from their own party or
coalition.

Permanent Executive: Bureaucracy

• The Executive organ of the government includes the Prime Minister, the ministers, and a large organization called
the bureaucracy or the administrative machinery.

• Bureaucracy includes trained and skilled officers who work as permanent employees of the government are
assigned the task of assisting the ministers in formulating policies and implementing these policies.

• The Indian bureaucracy is an enormously complex system.

 It consists of the All-India services, State services, employees of the local governments, and technical and
managerial staff running public sector undertakings.

• The Constitution also ensures that all sections of the society including the weaker sections have an opportunity to be
part of the public bureaucracy.

 For this purpose, the Constitution has provided for reservation of jobs for the Dalits, Adivasis, Women, and
Backward Classes.

Role and Nature of Bureaucracy

• They are made politically accountable.

• They are expected to be politically neutral.

 This means that the bureaucracy will not take any political position on policy matters.

• The bureaucracy is an instrument through which the welfare policies of the government must reach the people.

Public Service Commissions – UPSC and SPSCs

• The Union Public Service Commission has been entrusted with the task of conducting the recruitment of civil
servants for the government of India.

• Similar public service commissions are provided for the States also.

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• Members of the Public Service Commissions are appointed for a fixed term.

• Their removal or suspension is subject to a thorough inquiry made by a judge of the Supreme Court.

All India Services

• Included Services – Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Forest Service (IFoS).

• Selection by UPSC.

Conditions
• The Officer is governed by the service conditions laid down by the central government.

• The Officers are appointed by the central government.

• Only the central government can take disciplinary action against them.

 This means that the key administrative officers of the States are under the supervision and control of the
central government.

UPSC CSE Previous Year MCQs

UPSC CSE PRELIMS PREVIOUS YEAR MCQs

1) Consider the following statements:

1. The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India,
and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.

2. All executive actions of the Government of India shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the Prime
Minister.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

Solution: A

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2) Consider the following statements:

1. No criminal proceedings shall be instituted against the Governor of a State in any court during his term of office.

2. The emoluments and allowances of the Governor of a State shall not be diminished during his term of office.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

Solution: C

3) With reference to Union Government, consider the following statements:

1. The Ministries and Departments of the Government of India are created by the Prime Minister on the advice of
the Cabinet Secretary.

2. Each of the ministries is assigned to a Minister by the President of India on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

Solution: B

UPSC CSE MAINS PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. The size of the cabinet should be as big as governmental work justifies and as big as the Prime Minister can manage
as a team. How far the efficacy of a government then is inversely related to the size of the cabinet? Discuss.

2. “The Attorney-General is the chief legal adviser and lawyer of the Government of India.” Discuss.

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