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A Single President is Better than an Executive Council in the Executive branch

[ Robel Menghesha]

[Name of the Institution]

A Single President is Better than an Executive Council in the Executive

Introduction

Governments are the part and parcel of the modern nation-state system. Governments were formed to ensure the smooth functioning of the states and societies. There are three branches of governments such as executive, legislative and judicial branch. Every branch has its own spehere of competence. In the ancient world, legislation was considered the most important task in the society. However, things changed with the passage of time and this dominant position of legislature passed on to the executive branch of the government. The United States of America followed the same pattern of things and it was congress which had the powerful position in the American political system. However, the choice of presidential form of government and the doctrine of implied powers in the American Constituion made executive much powerful in its role and functions. This set of things went further changes and the American president became the most important actor not only in the American political system, but also in executive branch of the government. It is generally opined that American presidency is the toughest and the most powerful position on the face of earth. Undoubtedly, he is the person who directs and controls the working of world affairs after the New World Order. Now, time is ripe for such discussions that there should be an executive council in the executive branch and restricting the re-eligibility of the president and his four-year term. All this debate never ends, but the crux of the matter is that American president should remain the most powerful person in the executive branch. He does not need any executive council for the policy-making and policy-implementation. This ideal of executive council in the presidential system is just a lop-sided concept. If the choice of executive council was so prudent and opportune for America, the founding leaders would have added it as an essential ingredient in the administration of the state. Moreover, the executive council is not suitable for a nation with so much diversity. Another point of consideration is that article two of the US constitution mentioned no such executive council for the executive branch where power is divided among the people. In this view, the choice of single president instead of a body of several person in the executive branch is a much better option for US political system.

Discussion

To begin with, the desire of executive council in the executive branch instead of a single president is totally misfit in the American political system. The founding fathers of the United States of America never favored such concept of council for their executive branch. The founding fathers such as George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton wanted a strong president with immense authority 1(p.2824). The articles of confederation (AOF) had never mention the council and not even in the Philadelphia Convention where the final version of US constitution came out to run the affairs of all the states. If those prudent leaders of America wanted an executive council instead of single strong president, they could have framed the constitution in that way. Even in the past, those proponents of executive council had limited support among their fellows. Therefore, the American political system opted for single strong president, and is working smoothly since then. There is no need to incorporate features of privy council as widely practiced by their colonizers. There have been 44 presidents in the American political landscape, and all have their own set of achievements and skills. Hence, the American presidency does not need any executive council that could totally revamp the American political system.

Furthermore, the idea of single president is more compatible with the American nation and its style of governance. Americans were colonized by the Great Britain for a very long time. It was only through efforts of the several years that Americans got independence. Besides, the diverse nation of Americans followed the approach of revolutionary struggle to have their freedom. Americans were quite opposite in their temperament and their mode of governance. So, they opted for the presidential system, instead of the parliamentary system as practiced in their colonizers. Americans were not fond of weak executive at all and they wanted the strong leadership that could take the reins of the government. Americans wanted a weak executive as it is the case in parliamentary forms of governments. Moreover, the idea of several persons often creates much ambiguity in the policy-making process as highlighted by the George Washington in the debates. He opined that presidents would yield nothing if their power was curtailed 1(p.2825). The America nation did no object to the idea of single leadership position as well. Henceforth, for all such reasons, the concept of single strong and effective president had more merits than the idea of executive council of a few persons in the executive branch.

In addition, the choice of the single strong president was also due the reason that there Article two of the Us Constitution duly mentioned that single person as the president of the united states of America. If they had chosen the widespread proposals such as two-person or three-person proposals such as Virginia plan or the new jersey plan, the good governance of the newly independent country would have become the problematic affair 2(p.7). Already, the country was facing many problems at the time such as the irrational approach of the several states and their leaders. Even today, if this idea of executive council is implemented in the US political system, it would have created a chaotic scene in the country. This will initiate the conflict among states as they will contest for more and more power in the governance. This idea of executive council is not suitable for a country where diverse population is found such as the land of United States. Here, fifty different nations reside together and there is some good level of unity in the land too. This executive council will hurt the concept of “melting pot “and the “unity in diversity”. As a result, this body of executive council is not much promising for the American society and the American political system.

Conclusion

The powers and functions of American president are such significant that they make up the core of American political system. These powers are challenged and criticized very often. Every now and then, the critics come up with the plan of changing this presidential system and adding more limitations on the power of president. The antagonists propose the myriad alternatives to limit president’s power such as executive council, one-year term, limit on re-eligibility and the less authority in the foreign affairs. Nevertheless, almost 230 years have passed under the strong leadership of president, and this system is working fine in the political landscape of the country. There is no need to revamp the system with false ideals, and make it instable and inefficient in means and objectives. Such drastic change in the politics of the country will burgeon conflict in the territory of United States of America.

End Notes

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Milkis SM, Nelson M. The American Presidency. 8th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press

2.Nelson MC. The Evolving Presidency: Landmark Documents. 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press; 2019.