2004GIR Government – Business Relations

Lecture 2: Political Institutions – Executives and Legislatures

Separation of Powers

What are Constitutions for?

To contain and organise government
- Vertically: Between different levels of government
- Horizontally: Between different institutions

3 Branches
Legislative | Executive | Judiciary

Legislative:
Makes the Law.
- Parliament, Congress, Assembly
- Power to make the law

Executive:
Administer the Law
- Power to execute and administer the law (introduce the law)

Judiciary:
Enforces the Law
- Courts
- Power to interpret the law
- Enforces the law

Breaks up power and provides for check and balances.

Executive/ Cabinet
- Historic core of government
- Legislatures and judiciaries develop as restraints on the action of the monarch

- Consists of leader (Prime Minister/President) & Cabinet

(Ministers/Secretaries)
- Propose and implements policy (actions)
- Directs public service
Also:
- Mobilises support
- Provides crisis and ceremonial leadership

Executive:
Presidential:
- President chosen separately from legislature.
- Selects own cabinet, can be from outside of legislature (law/government)
- Presidential systems include: United States, France, South Korea, Russia and
is also common in South America and Africa.
Parliamentary:
- Prime Minister elected by legislature (government)
- Parliamentary systems include: Australia, New
Zealand, Canada and common in Europe.

Legislatures (Parliaments/Assemblies)
- Size: Largest & smallest?
- China (3,000), Micronesia (14), average (245)
- Members elected and/or appointed
- One ‘chamber’ (unicameral) or two (bicameral)
- Unicameral – (Sweden, NZ, Qld)
- Bicameral (Aust, UK, US, Japan)
- Lower House (generally more powerful)
- Upper House (commonly has review function)

Australian Case
- House of Representatives
- 150 seats, allocated to States by population (e.g. Tas 5; NSW 49)
- Elections held at least every 3 years
- Senate (States’ House)
- 76 seats (12 per state + 2 per Territory)
- 6 year terms (elections every 3 years)

Functions of Legislatures
Representation:
- Particular interest (Local area, point of view, specific group)
- Nation as a whole

Legislation:
- Formal process of making the law
- Provides opportunities for:
- Setting out intentions
- Debating merits
- Modifying, adapting and publicising

Scrutiny:
- Legislatures are responsible for overseeing the executive.

Authorise and Oversee Expenditure:

Parliament:
The part/group with the majority forms the executive.
Responsible Government
Ministers are accountable for:
- for the activities of their departments
- to the parliament (in theory) and the cabinet (in practice)
- through the parliament to the people
OR
- to the President who is accountable to the people

Ministerial Resignations
- For policy failures (increasingly rare)
- Disagreement over policy
Brexit Resignation
- For personal failures
Barnaby Joyce resigns 2018

Summary
- Political institutions establish ways of managing power ie getting people to
behave in ways they may not otherwise
- They rules for decision making (making laws and spending public money)
- They give decision makers legitimacy