Government Structure and Functions

Before going through the Government Structure and Functions, let us first take a look at what the term government means. The word government comes from the word “govern” meaning to control and direct the affairs of a country or organization. Government is a body of people, with the power to control the affairs of a country or a state. Okwudida Nnoli (1968) defines government as the agency of the ruling class which is charged with the responsibility of exercising state power on behalf of the whole class.

The Government Structure

Modern governments generally tend to be organized in terms of the three organs of government, namely the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.

EXECUTIVE

The term Executive comes from the Latin word ‘’ exsecutus’’ meaning to follow up or carry out. This means that the executive carries out the decisions made by the legislature and also enforces the laws passed by the Legislature. The executive is divided into the following parts namely:

• Political Executive: It comprises of all elected members in the executive such as the president, the Cabinet Ministers and the Deputy Ministers.
• The permanent Executive: This comprises permanent officials who are appointed to save for a fixed period of time, such as the Secretary to the Cabinet, the Permanent Secretaries, the top Civil Servants, Clerical officers and Classified daily paid Employees (CDEs)
• Single Executive: This is where the control of government machinery lies in the hands of the president or prime Minister. This means that the final decision lies in one person.
• The Plural Executive: This is where the government machinery is controlled by the entire group of people or a council. The President or Prime Minister acts as a chairperson of the Council and performs the usual functions of a Chairperson. The final decision lies in the entire Council not the President or Prime Minister. A good example is the federal Council of Switzerland.

FUNCTIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE

According to Dr. Garner in Mahajan (2000), the functions of the Executive can be discussed under diplomatic, administrative, military, judicial, financial and legislative. The following are the functions:

• Diplomatic function: The President who is the Chief Executive appoints Ambassadors and High Commissioners to represent the country in other states. A Head of state accepts foreign diplomats as a way of establishing close friendships with other countries.
• Administration Function: The Executive supervises the administrative machinery of the state. This includes a number of administrative works of the government such as the appointment of officials, directing and removal of officers, and giving orders.
• Military Function: The defence of a country lies in the hands of the executive. The president or Prime Minister is the commander of the armed forces. This simply means that he/ she has the power to declare war on another country.
• Judicial Function: In some countries, the Executive appoints judges but cannot dismiss them since they are protected by the Office of the President or the Prime Minister in some countries. The police which is part of the Executive branch of government works hand in hand with the judiciary to enforce the laws. The police arrest law breakers and take them to courts for prosecution.
• Financial Function: The government collects huge sums of money through taxes. The Executive allocates money to various departments for expenditure and this task is performed by the Ministry of Finance or Treasury in some countries.
• Legislative Function: The Legislative functions of the Executive vary with the form of government that prevails in the state. In a parliamentary Government, the Executive has powers to dissolve the legislature and order fresh elections. The Executive initiates the bills and present them to the Legislature to be enacted into laws. The chief Executive the president signs the bills to become laws.

LEGISLATURE

The Legislature is one of the three organs of government. It makes laws. The Executive and the Judiciary cannot function without the Legislature. It is only when a law has been enacted by a Legislature that the function of interpreting or enforcing the law arises. The Legislature has a major authority in the government. A Legislature can have both elected and nominated Members of Parliament as is the case in Zambia.

In USA all Members of the Legislature both in house of representative and the in the senate are elected for 2 and 3 yes respectively. A member of parliament can resign and seek a re-election under a different political party or as an independent candidate. A good representative is the one who collects the views of the people and present them before parliament. People should not be subjected to frequent by elections unless when necessary such as the death of a Member of Parliament.

Functions of the Legislature

LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS

This is the function to make laws for the country. Bills are presented to the Legislature by various ministries, debated and then passed by the Legislature. They become laws or Acts of Parliament after getting the formal assent or singing by the Head of state. Bills are given three readings and referred to committees before they are presented to all Members of Parliament for debate. In communist countries, Legislatures simply approve all the laws and policies suggested by the Communist parties.

Administrative Functions

The Legislature exercises control over the administration of the country. It gives directives to the Executive to act on what has been agreed upon in the House. It also checks whether the directives have been carried out or not through various committees. In countries where the Parliamentary or Cabinet system prevails as in Britain and Zambia, the control of the Legislature over the Executive is direct and immediate.

Zambia, has the public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly which checks whether the Executive has fully adhered to approved budgetary allocations. In the presidential system, the Legislature can remove the Head of state by adopting a motion of impeachment.

As for Britain, the Legislature may pass a vote of no confidence on the Executive and force the Ministers concerned to resign if they fail to perform to the satisfaction of the Legislature. In USA the senate is vested with certain specific administrative powers, for instance, all treaties negotiated and concluded by the President are to be ratified by a two thirds majority of the senate.

Financial Function

The legislature performs some financial functions as well. Public funds collected by government can only be spent with the approval of Parliament or the Legislature. Parliament there, exercises control over public expenditure on finance. The Legislature approves how public revenue should be spent every year. The Minister of finance presents a budget proposal to the National Assembly annuary.

The Legislature performs some judicial functions as well. The Legislature becomes a court when it hears and tries cases of impeachment against the President or other high government officials. In some Legislatures, the Legislature can exercise the Prerogative of Mercy. Zambia’s Legislatures are given the power to change or amend the constitution of the country. In India parliament has power to recommend the removal of the Supreme Court Judge and a high Court Judge on the ground of proved misbehavior and incapacity.

Electoral Functions

The Legislatures elect their own officers such as the speaker and Deputy Speaker. Some Legislatures may elect Executive officials. In India, the elected Members of both Houses of parliament from the Electoral College to elect the President of India. In USA Congress has electoral function. It meets in joint session every year to count the electoral votes cast for the President and Vice President of USA. The American House of Representatives has the power to elect the President in case no candidate gets absolute majority of votes in the Presidential election.

Constitution Function

Parliament has power to approve and amend the Republican Constitution. In Zambia, a proposal to amend the Republican Constitution must be passed by thirds majority in the House. Proposals to amend the United States Constitution must be made by a two thirds majority of the Congress or by the national Convention which congress calls at the request of the Legislature of two thirds of all states in the United States of America.

Deliberative Function

Deliberations give opportunity to each representative to promote his or her views and interest of the electorates, before a law is made it has to be debated in the house.

JUDICIARY

The Judiciary is the third organ of government. In every state the citizens expect justice at the hands of their administrators who are entrusted with the task of maintaining a good government in the country. The Judiciary makes sure that the rule of law is maintained. The judiciary is not only the final interpreter of the Constitution but also its guardian. Bryce in Johari (2010) says that there is no better rest of excellence of a government than the efficiency of its judicial system.

FUNCTIONS OF THE JUDICIARY

Adjudication

The main function of the Judiciary is the administration of Justice. Courts are agencies for the decision of disputes between individuals on one hand, and between individuals and the government on the other. Courts investigate and determine facts according to the laid down procedure. Evidence consists of oral or written statements of witnesses. To a judge it is not important whether, in his or her opinion, the law is good or bad, just or unjust.

Legislation

Though legislation is the work of the Legislature, the courts also make laws in a different way. Courts pass decisions, out of decisions a different kind of law is made called a case law.

Guardian of the Constitution

All the Constitutional disputes are settled by the highest court of the country and its decision is final. An independent and impartial court is indispensably needed in a federal state to resolve constitutional disputes between central and regional governments. The judiciary is the custodian of a written constitution. Judges can decide whether a particular law passed by the Legislature is within the constitution of the country or not.

Any law passed by the Legislature which contradicts the constitution can be declared by the High Court in Zambia as ultra vires or gone beyond the provision of the constitution or unconstitutional. A court of law can issue an injunction. An injunction of a court is an order to an individual or people as a group.

A court of law can also issue a writ of mandamus. This is an order issued by the court to request the government to do a particular thing which the law of the country requires it to do, such as building a school or clinic in a village where there is none. By a writ of habeas corpus, the court of law may order the release of a person who is illegally detained or order the police to take the detained person to the court of law to be tried for the offence committed.

By a writ of certiorari, the court of law may stop an order passed by any government official or by a statutory body on something such as an eviction notice from ones house or the destruction of a property of an individual or of people in a particular area.

Advisory Function

The courts have advisory function as welling addition to hearing and settling cases and then giving their judgments, the courts are also entrusted with the responsibility of rendering advice on important matters of constitutional law. In countries like India, the President may refer a matter of law or an important issue of public importance to the supreme Court and ask it to give its advisory opinion on it.

Miscellaneous Function

The courts exercise control over their employees. The court may also punish a person for a contempt of court. This is disregard of or disobedience to the rules of a court of law.

Judicial Review Function

The High Court and the Supreme Court can lock into the constitutional validity of a Legislative measure or Executive action and then declare it null and void if such an action or piece of legislation contradicts the fundamental law of the land.

IMPORTANT CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY

• Judges should not be elected because it would make them liable to political pressures this simply means that the independence of the judges would be compromised since they will have it to pay allegiance to the electorates who put them there.
• The tenure of the Judges should be long enough. It should not be for life nor too short. In Zambia a judge retires at the age of 65. Once appointed, the judges should not be dismissed unless a judge commits serious offences like receiving bribes or commits a treasonable offence.
• Judges should be given better salaries and allowances in order to attract and retain highly qualified judges.
• The judges should not be entrusted with Executive or administrative duties. This means that there should be separation from the Executive.
• Restrictions on public contacts: In order to ensure the independence of the judges it is important that judges should avoid public contacts so that they may avoid public pressures. The fear is that judges mighty get into temptations of social courtesy which some accused person may take advantage to win favours from judges in a court of law.
• Bar on Post Retirement Appointments because if they are given new appointments such as Ministries, High Commissioners or Ambassadors, they may use their previous positions as judges to influence the decisions of the remaining judges still active in the public service so as to win favours from the appointing authority.

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