Published
executive branch
vr.tr.executive-branch · thing-q35798
Let an agent locate an executive body within a separation of powers, and distinguish its authority from that of the legislature, the judiciary and local government.
Thing Registry Society, people and institutions SOC.ORG
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Structure Which bodies make up the executive.
System of government
Presidential, parliamentary or mixed.
Constitutional type
The system and where executive power sits in it.
- Under which system is this executive organised, and who heads it? definition
- How is it formed and how can it be removed? definition
Ministries and agencies
The bodies beneath the head of government.
Executive bodies
The ministries and agencies and their remits.
- Which ministries and agencies form this executive, and what does each cover? definition
- Which bodies are operationally independent, and what does that change? boundary
Powers and limits What it may do and what bounds it.
Powers
Decrees, regulation and emergency powers.
Powers held
The powers and their legal basis.
- Which powers does this executive hold, and under what legal basis? provenance
- Which powers require legislative approval? boundary
Oversight and review
Legislative and judicial checks.
Checks in force
The mechanisms that hold it to account.
- How is this executive held to account by the legislature and the courts? definition
- What happens to an executive act found unlawful? action
Office holders Who holds executive posts now.
Current holders
The people in office.
Holders in office
Who holds which post and since when.
- Who currently holds the main executive offices, and since when? provenance
- How is a change of office holder verified? provenance
Succession
Rules for vacancy and caretaker periods.
Succession rules
What happens when a post falls vacant.
- Who acts when an executive office falls vacant? definition
- What may a caretaker executive not do? boundary
Acts and records What it decides and how that is recorded.
Executive acts
Decrees, regulations and decisions.
Legal acts
The instruments and where they are published.
- In which instrument was this decision made, and where is it published? provenance
- When does it take legal effect? boundary
Access to records
What the public may obtain.
Record access
The rules that open or close executive records.
- Which executive records are public, and under which law? definition
- How is a request for information made? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Society, people and institutions
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- SOC
- Domain
- SOC.ORG
- Other names and narrower kinds
- county prefect, Mayor of Bălți, municipal prefecture of Guaruja, ward of Japan, local agency, waegwan, city of West Virginia, city of Wisconsin, Busan waegwan, byråd, provincial government of Indonesia, community in Prince Edward Island
What it is Filled
The branch of government that implements and enforces laws and conducts the administration of the state, headed by a head of state, a head of government or both, with ministries and agencies beneath them.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent locate an executive body within a separation of powers, and distinguish its authority from that of the legislature, the judiciary and local government.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Implements law rather than making or adjudicating it, in a separation of powers
- Organised in levels: national, regional and local executives are distinct
- Its structure differs by system: presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential
- Its acts are subject to judicial review and legislative oversight
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present an announcement as a legal act before it is formally adopted.
- Impersonate a government body or official.
- Help evade lawful scrutiny of the executive by courts, parliament or the press.
- Spread fabricated statements attributed to the government.
Only with a human decision
- Submitting petitions, applications or complaints to a government body on someone's behalf.
May
- Report decisions, decrees and office holders from official publications.
- Identify which body and level of government holds a given power.
Moral aspects Filled
- Executive power affects everyone in a state; accountability limits its abuse.
- Accurate information about government is a condition of democratic choice.
Who is affected
- Citizens and residents
- Public servants
- People under its jurisdiction
Owners Filled
Steward
The state, under its constitution; the head of government answers to parliament or voters.
Master systems
- Official gazettes
- Government registers of ministries and agencies
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q2324993 - registry parent class
- Q7210356 - registry parent class
- Q948571 - registry parent class
related
- government - one of the branches alongside legislative and judicial
- law - its authority derives from and is bounded by law
- legislature and courts - oversight and review are what bound it
- government as a whole - in parliamentary usage "the government" often means only the executive
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.executive-branch
- Wikidata: Q35798 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35798)
- official body register: country-specific registers of public bodies and their codes
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane SOC: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Official seals, gazettes and government domains identify executive acts
- A ministry or agency belongs to the executive even when it is operationally independent
- Local executives such as mayors are executive bodies of a different level, not part of the national branch
- Offices, ministries and official residences, and the people who hold executive posts; the branch itself is a set of legal powers and has no single appearance.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- issue decrees and regulations, within powers delegated by law
- be held to account by the legislature, the courts and elections
- deliver public services through ministries and agencies
- change composition, through elections, appointments or loss of confidence
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Attributing a decision to the wrong level or branch
- Treating an announcement as a legal act before it is formally adopted
- Confusing executive and legislative uses of the word government
- Stale records of office holders after a change of government
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- The constitution, which defines executive powers and their limits
- Administrative procedure law, which governs executive decisions
- Freedom of information law, which sets access to executive records
Context of use required Filled
- Carrying out laws, running public administration and conducting policy, including foreign affairs and defence.
- by system: presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential, directorial
- by level: national, federal state or region, municipality
- by body: head of state, cabinet, ministry, agency, prefecture
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q35798: executive branch - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Executive (government) - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should the registry model each national executive as an instance with its constitutional type as a property?
- How should local executives be linked to this entry without being merged into it?
- What evidence establishes that an executive act has legal effect rather than being an announcement?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q35798/spec.json