The Executive Notes | Class 11 Political Science
These standardised notes cover The Executive, the chapter from Class 11 Political Science (Indian Constitution at Work) that explains how laws and policies are actually carried out in a democracy. You will meet the different types of executive, the parliamentary system that India chose, and the main office holders: the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and the permanent executive, that is the bureaucracy or civil service.
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The Executive
What is an executive?
The organ of government that primarily looks after the function of implementation and administration is called the executive.
What are the principal functions of the executive?
The executive is the branch of government responsible for the implementation of the laws and policies adopted by the legislature.
The executive is often involved in the framing of policy as well. Some countries have presidents, while others have chancellors. The executive branch is not just about presidents, prime ministers and ministers. It also extends to the administrative machinery, that is the civil servants.
Different types of executive
There are various types of political systems in which different executives hold power in different ways:
- Presidential system: the President is the head of state as well as the head of government. In this system the office of the President is very powerful, both in theory and in practice. Countries: the United States, Brazil and most nations in Latin America.
- Semi presidential system: people directly elect the President, and there is also a Prime Minister. It may happen that both the President and the Prime Minister belong to the same political party, or to different parties. Countries: France, Russia and Sri Lanka.
- Parliamentary system: the Prime Minister is the head of government. Most parliamentary systems have a president or a monarch who is the nominal head of state. The role of that president or monarch is primarily ceremonial, and the Prime Minister along with the cabinet wields effective power. Countries: Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and Portugal.
The parliamentary executive in India
India already had some experience of running a parliamentary system under the Acts of 1919 and 1935. This experience had shown that in the parliamentary system the executive can be effectively controlled by the representatives of the people.
Why did India opt for the parliamentary form of government?
The makers of the Indian Constitution wanted to make sure that the government would be sensitive to public expectations and would be responsible and accountable.
The presidential executive puts a lot of emphasis on the President as the chief executive and as the source of all executive power. There is always the danger of a personality cult developing in a presidential executive. The framers preferred a system in which the executive would be answerable to, and controlled by, the legislature, that is the people's representatives.
What is the parliamentary form of the executive?
At the national level there is the President, who is the formal head of state of India, and the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, who actually run the government. At the state level the executive comprises the Governor and the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.
The President
- The highest executive authority.
- The Constitution vests in the President all the executive powers of the Union.
- The head of state, who represents the Republic of India.
- The first citizen of India.
Article 58 deals with the qualifications a person must have to become the President of India:
- Must be a citizen of India.
- Must have completed the age of 35 years.
- Must be qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha.
- Must not hold any office of profit under the government.
How is the President elected?
The President of India is not directly elected by the people, but by the members of an electoral college made up of:
- The elected members of both Houses of Parliament.
- The elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states.
- The elected members of the legislative assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry.
What are the powers and functions of the President?
The President of India has a very important role in our democracy. The powers of the President can be exercised in normal times and during a period of emergency.
Executive powers
The following are appointed by the President:
- The Prime Minister and the other members of the Council of Ministers.
- The Chief Justice and the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
- The Chairman and members of the UPSC.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Attorney General.
- The Chief Election Commissioner and others.
Legislative powers
- The President can summon, prorogue and dissolve the Lok Sabha.
- The President can summon a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
- The President can promulgate ordinances during the recess of Parliament.
Judicial powers
- Under Article 72, the President has judicial powers.
- The President can grant a pardon or reduce the sentence of any person convicted under central laws.
Pardoning powers of the President
When the President takes an action on the punishment or the sentence of a person convicted for an offence, it takes the form of the pardoning powers. They are of five types:
- Pardon: completely removes the sentence and the conviction.
- Reprieve: a temporary delay in carrying out a sentence.
- Remit: reduces the amount of the sentence without changing its nature.
- Respite: awards a lesser sentence because of a special condition.
- Commute: replaces one kind of punishment with a lighter one.
The President is also the Supreme Commander of the armed forces of India.
Emergency powers of the President
The President in India can proclaim an emergency in three situations:
- National Emergency (Article 352): arising out of war, external aggression or armed rebellion within the country.
- Constitutional Emergency (Article 356): in case of a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state, commonly known as President's Rule.
- Financial Emergency (Article 360): in case of a threat to the financial stability or credit of India.
Article 74(1) states that there shall be a Council of Ministers, with the Prime Minister at its head, to aid and advise the President, who shall act in accordance with such advice. The President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider its advice, but shall then act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration. In practice, this means the President normally acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
What are the discretionary powers of the President?
The President has the right to be informed of all important matters and deliberations of the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister is obliged to furnish all the information that the President may call for. The President often writes to the Prime Minister and expresses views on matters facing the country.
The powers the President can use with some discretion include:
- Reconsideration: asking the Council of Ministers to reconsider a decision.
- Veto power: withholding assent from a bill.
- Appointing the Prime Minister when no party has a clear majority.
Before becoming law, every bill passed by Parliament is sent to the President for assent. The President has the authority to send the bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. This veto power is limited, because if Parliament passes the same bill again and sends it back, the President is required to give assent to it.
However, the Constitution does not fix a time limit within which the President must return a bill. This means the President can keep a bill pending indefinitely, which gives the President an unofficial way to hold it up. This is sometimes referred to as a pocket veto.
When no candidate wins a clear majority in the Lok Sabha after an election, the President must choose a Prime Minister. In such a situation the President must use personal judgement to decide who has the support of the majority, or who can actually form and run the government.
The Vice President
The Vice President is elected for a five year term. The process is similar to that of electing the President, except that members of the state legislative assemblies are not included in the electoral college.
The Vice President can be removed from office by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha. The Vice President acts as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and takes over the office of President in the event of a vacancy caused by death, resignation, removal or other reason, but only for a limited period until a new President is elected.
The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers
In our country the Prime Minister has become the most important functionary of the government. The Prime Minister is also known as the head of the Council of Ministers, and it is only on the advice of the Council of Ministers that the President exercises the powers of office.
In a parliamentary form of government the Prime Minister must have the support of a majority of the members of the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister wields great power as a result of that majority support.
The Prime Minister decides who will serve as ministers in the Council of Ministers, and also assigns ministers their ranks and portfolios. Ministers are ranked as cabinet ministers, ministers of state or deputy ministers, depending on their seniority and political importance. At the state level, chief ministers select ministers from their own party or coalition in a similar way. All ministers, including the Prime Minister, must be members of Parliament. If someone becomes a minister or Prime Minister without being a member, they must get elected to Parliament within six months.
Size of the Council of Ministers
An amendment was made that the total number of ministers in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 percent of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha, or of the assembly in the case of the states. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. This means that a ministry which loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha is obliged to resign. The principle indicates that the ministry is like an executive committee of Parliament and it collectively governs on behalf of Parliament.
Collective responsibility
- It is based on the principle of the solidarity of the cabinet.
- It implies that a vote of no confidence, even against a single minister, leads to the resignation of the entire Council of Ministers.
- It also means that if a minister does not agree with a policy or decision of the cabinet, that minister must either accept the decision or resign.
- It is binding on all ministers to support, or at least agree to, a policy for which there is collective responsibility.
When the Prime Minister dies or resigns, the Council of Ministers is automatically dissolved. The death, dismissal or resignation of a single minister, however, only creates one ministerial vacancy. The Prime Minister acts as a link between the Council of Ministers and the President, as well as Parliament. All major government decisions are taken by the Prime Minister, who also sets the government's policies. Control of the Council of Ministers, leadership of the Lok Sabha, command of the administrative machinery, access to the media, the projection of personalities during elections, and appearances as a national leader at international summits and on foreign visits are all sources of power for the Prime Minister.
At the state level
There is a similar parliamentary executive at the state level, with some differences. The most significant difference is that the President appoints a Governor for each state, on the advice of the central government. The Governor has more discretionary powers than the President has at the centre. The Chief Minister, like the Prime Minister, is the leader of the majority party in the assembly. The main principles of the parliamentary system, however, also apply at the state level.
The permanent executive: the bureaucracy
The Prime Minister, the ministers and a large organisation known as the bureaucracy, or the administrative machinery, together make up the executive organ of the government.
In a democracy the government is led by elected representatives and ministers, and the administration is under their control and supervision. The legislature also has authority over the executive branch. Administrative officers are not allowed to act against the policies of the legislature, and ministers are responsible for keeping political control over the administration.
India has developed a professional administrative machinery. The Indian bureaucracy is made up of the All India Services, the state services, local government employees, and the technical and managerial staff who run public sector enterprises. The Union Public Service Commission is entrusted with the task of conducting the recruitment of civil servants for the central government. There are also state level public service commissions. Members of these commissions serve for a fixed term, and their removal or suspension is subject to a thorough inquiry by a judge of the Supreme Court.
The bureaucracy is the vehicle through which the welfare policies of the government must reach the people. A common criticism, however, is that a bureaucracy can become distant and can ignore the demands and expectations of ordinary citizens.
How can the bureaucracy be made responsive to ordinary citizens?
Some of these problems can be solved only if the democratically elected government keeps proper control over the bureaucracy. On the other hand, too much political interference turns the bureaucracy into a tool in the hands of politicians. Even though the Constitution set up an independent recruitment system, many people believe there are not enough safeguards to protect civil servants from political interference in their work, and not enough safeguards to ensure that the bureaucracy is accountable to the people. The Right to Information Act, for example, is intended to make the bureaucracy more open, responsive and accountable.
Why it still matters
The parts of this chapter that can feel the most like dry theory, such as how the Vice President is elected or what happens when an office suddenly falls vacant, played out in real life in 2025.
On 21 July 2025 the Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, resigned, saying he wanted to focus on his health and follow medical advice. He was the 14th Vice President, and his resignation was the first that actually triggered a mid term election for the post. The Constitution has a clear rule for exactly this situation: under Article 68, an election to fill a vacancy in the office of the Vice President must be held as soon as possible.
So an early election was held on 9 September 2025. Just as these notes describe, the electoral college was made up of the members of both Houses of Parliament, and not the members of the state legislative assemblies. C. P. Radhakrishnan won a clear majority, taking 452 of the 752 valid votes, or about 60 percent, and was sworn in soon afterwards, with President Droupadi Murmu administering the oath. He then took charge as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, exactly the role the notes above give to the Vice President.
This is a good reminder that the Constitution is not just history. The rules about who elects whom, how vacancies are filled and who chairs the Rajya Sabha are live parts of how India is governed right now. If you want to see how offices like these connect to the wider world of institutions and current affairs, explore the Learnacy Hub, and keep a note of any presidential or vice presidential election you read about in the news as a real example for your exam answers.
Key constitutional articles at a glance
- Article 58: qualifications to become President.
- Article 68: filling a vacancy in the office of Vice President.
- Article 72: pardoning powers of the President.
- Article 74: Council of Ministers to aid and advise the President.
- Article 352: National Emergency.
- Article 356: Constitutional Emergency, or President's Rule.
- Article 360: Financial Emergency.