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In the next four lessons we will examine the executive branch of the national government. The executive branch consists of the following areas:

The Presidency

The Executive Office of the President

The Cabinet Departments

Major Independent Agencies

This lesson will trace the development of the executive branch of our national government. We will also review the executive power of various forms of government, including an autocracy, oligarchy, and a democracy

(see lesson 3).

In any form or theory of government, the executive is a person or group of persons who supervises the government. The executive has the responsibility to carry out the laws of the legislatures or the decrees of the court system.

Let us consider some important questions concerning the executive in any form of government.

Does the executive have the authority to make the rules?

What is the source of that authority?

How was the executive selected?

How much political power does the executive possess?

Are there limits on the power of the executive?

Can the executive be removed from office?

What are the specific duties of the executive?

How long will the executive be in office?

Throughout history, humans have been controlled one way or another. Sometimes it was the strongest person or group in the area who ruled, or perhaps it was the person with the largest army. Please reconsider the questions listed below that were raised in the first lesson.

Who has the authority to make the rules?

How did they get that authority?

Why do we need rules?

Lesson two discussed these theories of government:

• Force;
• Divine Right;
• Tribes;
• Evolutionary;
• and Social Contract.

Each one of these theories of government provided for some type of executive or group of leaders who would enforce the laws.

Other lessons examined these forms of governments:

What is the source of the executive power in an autocracy, oligarchy, and democracy?

An autocracy is a government that is ruled by one person. The amount of executive power that an autocrat possesses will vary from one form of government to another.

A monarchy has a king, queen, or emperor who has great power in the exercise of government. If the monarch has complete executive power over the people, the government is an absolute monarchy.

In a constitutional monarchy, the ruler shares governing powers with an elected legislature or parliament.

Some constitutional monarchs are strictly figureheads and do not have any real executive power to enforce the laws.

Great Britain and Japan are constitutional monarchies.

A dictator has all of the executive control of the people in every aspects of their social, political and economic lives.

How would you answer the questions on the next screen in regard to a dictatorship?

A small group of people control an oligarchy, getting their power from wealth, social position, military strength, or a combination of those things.

In a communist form of government, the executive authority is held by a group of party leaders.

The executive authority in an oligarchy can also be given to a group of people or a committee in a democracy.

One of the early proposals at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 called for a three person executive branch that would have a representative from each section of the country.

In a democracy, the executive authority is usually given to an individual by a written constitution. This executive authority is limited and controlled by this constitution and the divisions of the national government.

What is the source of the executive authority in the government of the United States?

In the United States the White House in Washington D.C. is the symbol of the executive branch of our national government.

In America, the President fills the role of the executive at the national level of government. What are the historical sources for the executive branch of government?

The governor is the head of the executive branch at the regional or state level. At the county township or municipal (city) level, the executive may be a mayor or a board of commissioners. The regional and local governments will be discussed in later lessons.

PICTURE: courts

The framers of the Constitution literally had to invent the Presidency and the executive branch of government at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. These men had always lived under a parliamentary form of government. In this form of government, the executive is chosen by the legislature (Parliament). The executive may also be removed by the legislature (Parliament).

PICTURE: pargovt

In a presidential form of government, the executive and the legislature are elected by the people. These two branches of government in turn appoint and approve the members of the judiciary.

The power of government would be balanced because of system of checks and balances.

PICTURE: presgovt

PICTURE: usgovt

The idea of a strong executive was a major concern for the colonists who had just defeated England and

King George III. The suggestion that the legislature would give up its historical control of executive was a central topic of discussion at the Constitutional Convention.

Article IX of the Articles of Confederation provided for a President who would serve when Congress was not in session.

Article IX of the Articles of Confederation provided for an executive, a President, who presided over the meetings of Congress. This President and a committee appointed by Congress also presided over the government when the Congress was not in session.

Article IX of the Articles of Confederation states that:

"the United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress,...to consist of one delegate from each state; to appoint one of their number to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of President more than one year in any term of three years."

In the summer of 1787, the executive branch of the central government would be a major topic of the Constitutional Convention.

A reminder that the original purpose of this Constitutional Convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation. The central government under the Articles of Confederation did not have a strong executive branch.

The framers of the Constitution faced four critical questions in the creation of the executive branch.

How many people should serve as the executive?

How should the executive be elected?

How long should the executive serve in office?

Should the executive have veto power?

The first proposal for an executive branch at the

Constitutional Convention was presented on

May 29, 1787 by the Virginia delegation. This proposal called for the creation of a national executive who could enforce the national laws.

Many of the critical problems before the Constitutional Convention, including the executive branch, were solved through compromise.

One group at the convention favored a strong executive that was independent of the legislature. The other group supported an executive that consisted of one or more persons who would be selected by the legislature. This executive plan would follow the parliamentary model.

PICTURE: pargovt

Even state delegations to the Constitutional Convention were split on this issue. George Washington and James Madison of Virginia favored the strong independent executive plan.

At the same time, George Mason and Edmund Randolph of Virginia preferred the parliamentary executive model.

The opponents of the single executive believed that it was too similar to a monarchy. They argued that a three man executive committee with representation from all sections of the country would be more stable.

The proponents of a single executive believed that a system of checks and balances would limit the power of the President.

In addition, a single executive could be more decisive than a three person committee.

The supporters of the parliamentary model argued that the decisions of three persons would represent the viewpoints of the entire country.

In the end, nine states voted for the single executive while Maryland, New York, and Delaware voted against. Many delegates supported the single executive because they believed that George Washington would become the first President.

The Constitutional Convention delegates now turned their attention to the Presidential election process.

There was a sharp division among the delegates who believed that the President should be selected by Congress and those who proposed that he be elected by the people.

Only one state delegation favored giving the vote directly to the people. This vote followed the election practices that were being used in most of the states.

At the time of the constitutional convention, only four states allowed the people to elect the governor. In eight of the states, the legislatures selected the governor.

Once again, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention compromised on this issue.

The problem of the Presidential election was solved by putting the selection of the president in the hands of electors. These electors were selected by each state by a process that was designed by the state legislatures.

Each state was entitled to as many electors as it had senators and representatives in Congress.

These electors would meet in their states and vote for two persons for President. If the electors failed to give a majority to any one person, the choice of a president would then be decided in the House of Representatives where each state would have one vote. We will discuss the presidential election process in more detail in the next lesson.

The delegates next turned their attention to the Presidential term of office.

Once again, the delegates used their experience in their individual states on this issue. Ten of the states limited their executive, the governor, to a one-year term while the other three allowed a three-year term.

One group supported making the President ineligible for re-election, while others did not want any term limits.

Originally, the delegates voted to give the President one term of seven years. Another state proposed three, three-year terms for a total of nine years for any one President.

Eventually, the delegates decided to give the President a term of four years with no limits on re-election.

The limit on Presidential terms was changed with the passage of the Twenty-second Amendment.

The last executive branch question the delegates addressed was the Presidential veto.

The Executive Branch

Should the executive have veto power?

The delegates were also divided on the issue of the veto power of the President. The Virginia Plan proposed that the President and the members of the Supreme Court should have the power to veto legislation.

Others argued that this approach violated the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances.

The arguments about a strong and weak executive were heard again. Many delegates were reluctant to give the power to veto an act of Congress to just one person. At first, ten states voted against giving the President an unrestrained veto power.

Eventually, James Madison of Virginia suggested that the President could veto an act of Congress. The Congress could then override this veto with a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress. We will discuss the veto power of the President in a future lesson.

The delegates made many other decisions that granted additional powers to the executive branch. We will discuss the specific powers of the executive branch in the next lesson.

This concludes this lesson on the historical development of the executive branch. The framers of the Constitution provided only a short list of Presidential duties and powers. Over the years the powers of the office of the President have been expanded and shaped by the personalities of the individuals who have held the highest office in the land.