executive branch
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.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
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.
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.
What it is for: Carrying out laws, running public administration and conducting policy, including foreign affairs and defence.
It can be 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.
Distinguishing features
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 it looks like
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.
How it is recognised
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
Related models
is part of - one of the branches alongside legislative and judicial
implements - its authority derives from and is bounded by law
is checked by - oversight and review are what bound it
is confused with - in parliamentary usage "the government" often means only the executive
In practice
Families and kinds
by system: presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential, directorial
by level: national, federal state or region, municipality
by body: head of state, cabinet, ministry, agency, prefecture
Identifiers
official body register country-specific registers of public bodies and their codes
Standards and regulation
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
Failure modes and hazards
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
Also called
+1775
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Structure Which bodies make up the executive.
The executive is an arrangement of offices and bodies, and the arrangement is what distinguishes one system from another.
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.
Executive authority is delegated and bounded; the bounds are where legality is decided.
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.
Office holders change often; records about them go stale faster than any other part of this model.
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.
An agent needs to know whether something is a legal act, a policy statement or an announcement.
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
What the second pass must settle
- 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?