POLS 2000 Lecture 8: The Executive

• School: University of Georgia
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 2000
• Professor: Bramlett

Document Summary

Think about the office of the u. s. president. Head of state vs. head of government. State person who symbolically embodies or represents the state. Government negotiate treaties; order troops; person actually running the country. For the u. s. head of state and head of government is the same. Earliest form of the executive was a position that was usually inherited. Usually a family making business pursuits and interested in protecting their resources. Authoritarian leadership institution that is mostly constrained by other branches of government. Democratic executives that are significantly constrained by, and intentionally so, by the threat of future elections. The idea that god chooses the king, and the king therefore now has a right to do whatever. God is appointing men to rule on his behalf. Rule by a small number of elites. Leave office after term of by impeachment. Prime minister responsible to the people, but through the legislature. Fusion of executive and legislative branches leads to scrambled eggs.