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The executive is the part of the government that executes or enforces the law and policy of a government. It can be organised as a branch of government, as in liberal democracies, or as an organ of the unified state apparatus, as is the case in .
In based on the separation of powers, government authority is distributed between several branches to prevent power from being concentrated in the hands of a single person or group. To achieve this, each branch is subject to checks by the other branches; in general, the executive or the legislature can propose laws, the legislature can pass or block laws, laws are then enforced by the executive, and interpreted by the judiciary. The executive can also be the source of certain types of law or law-derived rules, such as a decree or executive order.
In those that have fusion of powers, typically parliamentary systems, such as the United Kingdom, the executive is often referred to as the 'government', and its members generally belong to the political party that controls the legislature. Since the executive requires the support and approval of the legislature, the two bodies are "fused" together, rather than being independent. The principle of parliamentary sovereignty means powers possessed by the executive are solely dependent on those granted by the legislature, which can also subject its actions to judicial review. However, the executive often has wide-ranging powers stemming from the control of the government bureaucracy, especially in the areas of overall Economic policy or foreign policy.
Parliamentary systems have a head of government (who leads the executive, often called ministers) normally distinct from the head of state (who continues through governmental and electoral changes). In the Westminster type of parliamentary system, the principle of separation of powers is not as entrenched as in some others.
Members of the executive (ministers) are also members of the legislature, and hence play an important part in both the writing and enforcing of law. In presidential systems, the directly elected head of government appoints the ministers. Ministers can be directly elected by voters, such as in Switzerland at the cantonal (state) level.
In a parliamentary system, a cabinet minister responsible to the legislature is the head of government, while the head of state is usually a largely ceremonial monarch or president.
The top leadership roles of the executive branch may include:
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