Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Bicameralism, Harvey Mansfield, Presidential System
17 Apr 2018
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This three-part lecture series begins by identifying the executive as the part of the state which implements and executes laws although as (cid:449)e (cid:449)ill see, it does(cid:374)(cid:859)t e(cid:374)d there. Earlier on in history, (cid:449)e did(cid:374)(cid:859)t thi(cid:374)k of the state as having separate executive, legislative, and judicial components, each with a separate function. In part, the legislature and judiciary emerged to take on the task of setting boundaries to executive power. But ultimately, it is executive power that the state cannot do without. The modern executive is itself divided into two parts: bureaucratic and political. The bureaucratic executive features appointed officials implementing legislation. The political executive is the government of the day, elected in a democracy. It develops legislative proposals, pushes them through the legislature, and oversees the implementation of legislation. Now, this distinction is imperfect, as bureaucrats are also political actors to some extent more on this in a subsequent lecture.
