Interpretation Of Executive Power: Identity Change

The appearance of modern sense of the executive power in the Middle Ages in Europe have a profound social and historical background, mainly due to two interrelated factors of construction: First, is the emergence of the modern sense of the individual; second, is the formation of the modern sense of the country. The growing of modern sense of the individual is benefited from the unique "amphibious nature" of the social structure in Middle Ages of Western Europe, this special social structure makes two totally different nature of the factors of feudalism and capitalism can not only coexist, but also actively boom together; capital factors were continuously shaping the individual in accordance with their own natures. The power of the church in medieval Europe make it a strong international nature and enabled the priest class as the backbone of the church spread their influence thought and concentrate on their academic throughout its sphere; and completed a reasonable proof of the individual order. All this contributed to the awakening of the individual, and make it step by step with the rational, secular trend, eventually led to the initiation of individual rights awareness; At the same time, half of the Middle Ages in Europe, especially continental Europe, the war gave birth to the frequent the emergence of a powerful state, the King's power gradually mastered the powerful monopoly of violence resources and fiscal resources, resulting in a true sense of the modern nation-state. Construction of these two factors with each other, on the one hand the individual with the right consciousness and rational endowments are in the search for a strong protection of the king; on the other hand, a wise King is also aware that only a strong, centralized executive power can make country strong and free from outside violations of state. All this ultimately gave birth to the modern sense of the executive powers. Powerful executive powers first appeared in medieval Europe:France, Spain, Germany, but it was discovered by Machiavelli lived in divided Italy; he firmly believes that the emergence of a powerful executive is a general trend, as only it can bring to order and stability, and a powerful executive is ready to come through his some "moral neutrality" modification.Only the protection of the effectiveness of executive power, by means of a strong executive, social order can be attributed. It seems it is inevitable that the "Faustian deal." Hobbes moved he abstract concept of nature in the classical philosophy of natural law theory to specific individuals, and he believed that the motive of self-preservation is one of the first natures; and human nature is selfish, human beings are unavoidably trapped in a "war like wolves and wolf". To avoid this situation, the sovereign appears as powerful executives not only a must, and should be fixed for an office and the executive power is tend to appear as a position; as result, Hobbes bridged the political and moral tensions, so that the executive power acquired the nature of effectiveness, and at the same time, it was become quite acceptable. However, this also means that all along there are a danger that once a strong deviation from the public nature of executive power, the whole community equally into a hopeless abyss. Effectiveness of executive power and public nature of it seems difficult to co-existence, in other words, how the effectiveness of executive power without losing access to its public nature is a problem that people have become troubled.In this issue, the Republican thought is giving a useful inspiration. Republican thought on the protection of the public nature of executive power is achieved through two paths:one is to limit executive power in the public domain, to prevent private use of public power, to be called the Republican line of thought of the passive defense, through a balanced mix of power configuration can be achieved; second is to cultivate good citizens, so that citizens have a higher virtue, which is a positive path of Republican ideology, can be implemented by means of a good education. These two paths are common defense of the public nature of executive power. However, in answer to how to ensure the public use of the executive power, different thinkers tend to take passive defensive ways and give different answers:Locke tried to keep the ultimate power to the people, the executive power, legislative separation of checks and balances and whether legislative or executive powers are subject to "public nature" of the constraints, if the rulers deviate from this goal, people can resort to God, by way of violence with violence to restore order; Montesquieu put the separation of powers into practice, besides the Republican ideology of "pooling equilibrium", he had also added a free expression of views on the mechanism, and he firmly believed that except that cannot guarantee the public nature of executive power; the Federalists were committed to big countries Republic of executive power, through the horizontal power (legislative, judicial, administrative) of the "mixed equilibrium" and the vertical of power "compound republic" to prevent the executive power to deviate from the public, and with the electoral college system of presidential elections and political parties "legal opposition principle", to ensure the effectiveness of a strong executive power, flexibility, and its public nature.