Category: Political Systems

Development and expansion of constitutions. A Constitutions is the fundamental law according to which the government of a state is organized, and agree- ably to which the relations of individuals or moral persons to the community are determined. It may be a written instrument, a precise text or series of texts, enacted at a given…

Essentials of a written constitution : A written constitution is a supreme and fundamental law. It is supreme in the sense that it is harder to change than ordinary law and prevails over ordinary law in case of incompatibility. It occupies a place at the apex of the hierarchy of legal norms, as the lex…

Nature, necessity, and origin of constitutions. The term “constitution” When applled to the state may connote both a physical and a legal Concepcion the former sense it has reference to the totality of constituent elements which enter into the physical make-up of the state, land, people, institutions, government machinery, etc. In this sense the term…

Types of republican executives. The Presidency of the United States.-If we leave aside the Swiss executives, which is sui géneris because of its collegial organization and its peculiar relation to the legislature, the existing executives of republican states fall into three fairly well differentiated classes, American, French, and German. The American type includes the presidency…

Relation of the executive to the legislative power. Power of the Executive in Respect to Legislation:-The relation of the supreme executive to the legislative organ, said Sidgwick, : “is one of the knottiest points in constitutional construction.” and it is the nature of this relationship which serves to distinguish the two most important forms of…

Nature of the Executive Power : What is the best constitution for the executive department and what are the powers with which it should be intrusted, said Judge Story, are problems among the most important and probably the most difficult of solution of any involved in the theory of free governments. The first of these…

The term of the chief executive. Views of Hamilton and Story :- “The ingredients Which constitute energy in the executive, said Alexander Hamilton, are first, unity, secondly, duration, thirdly, an adequate provision  for its support, fourthly, competent powers.” while those which constitute safety in the republican sense are, first, a due dependence on the people,…

Methods Followed : Four different methods of choosing the chief executive have been followed in practice first, the hereditary principle, second, direct election by the people, third, in direct election by a body of intermediate electors, themselves either popularly elected or chosen by some branch of the government and, fourth, election by the legislature. In…

Principles of organization : What the Executive Organ Embraces. The second great organ, department, or branch of government the third, if we accept the view of some Writers that the electorate is also an organ is the executive. In a broad and collective sense the executive organ embraces the aggregate or totality of all the…

Nature of the legislative mandate – role of the representative : Classification of opinions : As to what is the proper function of a representative whom the people have chosen to act for them in matters of legislation, there is a wide difference of opinion. The Views which have been expressed by writers on the…