Data Structure
Networking
RDBMS
Operating System
Java
MS Excel
iOS
HTML
CSS
Android
Python
C Programming
C++
C#
MongoDB
MySQL
Javascript
PHP
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Mathematics
English
Economics
Psychology
Social Studies
Fashion Studies
Legal Studies
- Selected Reading
- UPSC IAS Exams Notes
- Developer's Best Practices
- Questions and Answers
- Effective Resume Writing
- HR Interview Questions
- Computer Glossary
- Who is Who
Why should the executive authority draw power from the legislature?
Of the three crucial pillars of democracy - legislature, executive, and judiciary, it is the legislature which is the most important, or in other words, it is the keystone of the arch of democracy. Remove the pillar or the keystone representing the legislature and the entire structure of democracy will tumble down.
Legislature for People
That's because the legislature is the only institution that can truly claim to be the real representative of the people, thereby validating the famous words of the famous American president, Abraham Lincoln who once said: "Democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people". The legislature is where the directly elected representatives of the people deliberate on national priorities and make laws. The executive's job is to govern according to the laws made by the legislature and the judiciary's job is to uphold the laws and dispense justice according to these laws.
When we say that the executive authority should draw its powers from the legislature, it simply means that the most powerful office in the country, that of the prime minister of India, should be accountable to the legislature or the parliament.
The Parliament
This form of democracy is known as the parliamentary form of democracy where the government of the day depends on the support of the majority of the members of the parliament. Of course, in the presidential form of democracy in the United States, the executive, i.e. the president, doesn't depend on the legislature to remain in power because the president is directly elected by the people of the United States.
The Fundamental Difference
In contrast, the prime minister of India won't last in office even for a day without the support of the majority of members of the Indian parliament. That's the fundamental difference between two of the world's largest democracies. However, there's no denying the fact that even in the United States, the legislature is the supreme body that makes all the rules which, the president must abide by. Hence, whichever way we look at it, the office of the executive authority will have to draw all its powers from only one source - the legislature. In fact, democracy begins at the legislature and is sustained by the legislature.
The Major Backdrop
In the Indian democratic system, there is a huge drawback when it comes to the local self-government which essentially covers the governance of the administrative unit known as the district and all other administrative units under it, e.g.the sub-division and the block. Here, the executive authority is the office of the district collector which neither draws its powers from the district legislature or Zilla Parishad nor is it accountable to the Parishad. On the contrary, it is the Zilla Parishad which is accountable to the office of the district collector which has the power to dismiss the Zilla Parishad. This is a very serious drawback in the Indian democratic system which will have to be addressed sooner rather than later.
53 Views
