Role of gov’t basing on the three branches to the public

Executive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for
the daily administration of the state bureaucracy.[1] The division of power into separate branches of
government is central to the democratic idea of the separation of powers.[2]

In many countries, the term "government" connotes only the executive branch. However, this branch fails
to differentiate between despotic and democratic forms of government. In authoritarian systems, such as a
dictatorship or absolute monarchy, where the different powers of government are assumed by one person,
the executive branch ceases to exist since there is no other branch with which to share separate but equal
governmental powers.

The separation of powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch—an
attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history.[3] The
executive officer is not supposed to make laws (the role of the legislature), or interpret them (the role of the
judiciary). The role of the executive is to enforce the law as written by the legislature and interpreted
by the judicial system.

The roles that the top leadership of the executive branch may fulfill include:

• head of government—running the functions of the state, managing the bureaucracy, and deciding
how to enforce the law
• foreign minister—overseeing state's ambassadors and determining foreign policy
• commander in chief—commanding the state's armed forces and determining military policy

The organizational structure of the executive branch will determine the relationship between the heads of
state and government respectively. The Executive Branch also carries out the laws.

In a presidential system (e.g. United States of America) the leader of the executive branch is at once the
head of state and head of government. In a parliamentary system, the chief executive (usually called prime
minister) is the head of government, while the function of head of state is assumed by a largely ceremonial
monarch or as the president.

The judiciary (also known as the judicial system or judicature) is the system of courts that interprets and
applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of
disputes, interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case. This branch of government is often
tasked with ensuring equal justice under law. It usually consists of a court of final appeal (called the
"supreme court" or "constitutional court"), together with lower courts.

In many jurisdictions the judicial branch has the power to change laws through the process of judicial
review. Courts with judicial review power may annul the laws and rules of the state when it finds them
incompatible with a higher norm, such as primary legislation, the provisions of the constitution or
international law. Judges constitute a critical force for interpretation and implementation of a constitution,
thus de facto in common law countries creating the body of constitutional law.

Various functions

• In common or provinces, courts interpret law, including constitutions, statutes, and regulations.
They also make law (but in a limited sense, limited to the facts of particular cases) based upon
prior case law in areas where the legislature has not made law. For instance, the tort of negligence
is not derived from statute law in most common law jurisdictions. The term common law refers to
this kind of law.
 • In civil law jurisdictions, courts interpret the law, but are, at least in theory, prohibited from
creating law, and thus, still in theory, do not issue rulings more general than the actual case to be
judged. In practice, jurisprudence plays the same role as case law.

Legislature:

 The Legislature (Parliament) is the paramount law maker.

 It is the function of the legislature to decide on national objectives, strategies, functions and
services and convert them into legislation for execution by the executive authority.
 The legislature also has a number of other functions to perform.
 Eg. Amending the Constituion
 The control of national finances through taxation, borrowing and appropriations
 Supervision of the executive authority
 Shares the power of appointments to impt. Executive and judical offices.
 Exercise certain quasi-judicial powers, such as deciding on contested elections.
 Expelling their own members
 Bringing impeachement actions against public officials or trying cases of impeachment.
 Under the cabinet system-supervision and control of cabinet.
Legislative control is exercised through:
questions addressed to ministers,
amendments or rejection of government bills (including the budget)
Votes of no confidence that compel ministers to resign,

• All regulations promulgated by the executive authority is tabled for information before the
legislature.
• The legislature can disapprove of delegated legislation if it is not satisfied with it.

The role of the Civil Service is to serve the civil society so that ordinary men and women can enjoy the
benefits of living in an organised environment.

The services provided by the Civil Service are largely public goods - defence and security, law and order,
education, healthcare, physical infrastructure, transport, telecommunications, etc.

Some of these services may be privatised.

The Civil Service will reduce in size and concentrate on their "core" business: defence and security, law
and order, basic physical infrastructure, public transport, public education, public healthcare.

With privatisation, the role of the Civil Service will shift from the provision of public services to the
regulation of the private sector for the provision of public services.

The shift to regulation will lift the requirements for expertise in the country - the private sector will
compete using specialists and the Civil Service will regulate using specialists.

If the Civil Service fails to catch up with the use of specialists, it will find that most of the privatisation
contracts will be lopsided in favour of the private sector - and the public in general will lose out as they will
have to guarantee the commercial success of basic services on a long-term basis.

The obligations of civil servants

To abide by the Constitution, laws and regulations; to carry out their obligations according to laws,
regulations and policies of the state; to accept the supervision of the masses and work hard to serve the
people; to safeguard national security, honor and interests; to be devoted to their duties and follow orders;
to maintain state secrets; to be honest and upright; to observe other obligations prescribed by the
Constitution and law.

Advantages/disadvantages of working with the Public service

government jobs are perfect for you if you want to have job security and stability because
once you land one, you know the job is yours unless you decide to leave. You will have
decent working hours, generally a nine to five job and especially if you’re a woman and
unless necessary, you probably won’t have to work late hours. But if you do have an
overtime shift to do, be sure you will get extra pay for the number of hours you put in.
Government jobs also carry the advantage of providing retirement benefits at the end of
your service. This is a great investment as you have something to depend on at the end of
your working years.

If you would like to specialize in your job or conduct research in your field, government
jobs can provide you the funding and assistance in higher education and most likely it
will be covered by the particular institution or organization. At the same time, you will
know the impact you make as all government jobs are directly linked to the country’s
decision making.

Disadvantages however include strict procedures and processes that one must adhere to,
even if one knows that it is the most inefficient way about. To change such a procedure
takes considerable time and getting a promotion almost always require longer time than
in the private sector as there is a hierarchy to follow.

This is where private sector jobs score better points as performance is the key
measurement in better salary and promotions. You may not work from nine to five like in
a government job and sometime if you’re in a managerial role you might not get paid for
overtime, but be sure that your hard work will be rewarded and recognized better and
faster than in a government organization.

Role of local gov’t in the countries service

Council responsibilities

Councils are required to make decisions and set directions for promoting the social,
cultural, environmental and economic well-being of their communities. They contribute
to the good governance of their communities.

The functions of regional councils are:

• resource management (quality of water, soil, coastal planning etc)

• biosecurity control of regional plant and animal pests
• river management, flood control and mitigation of erosion
• regional land transport planning and contracting of passenger services
• civil defence (natural disasters, marine oil spill.)
The functions of territorial councils (district and city councils) are:

• community well-being and development

• environmental health and safety (including building control, civil defence, and
environmental health matters)
• infrastructure (roading and transport, sewerage, water/stormwater)
• recreation and culture
• resource management including land use planning and development control. .

A council must:

• provide directly or on behalf of central government, adequate, equitable and

appropriate services and facilities for the community
• ensure that the services provided are managed efficiently and effectively
• exercise community leadership
• exercise its functions in a manner that is consistent with and actively promotes the
principle of cultural diversity
• manage protect , develop, restore, enhance and conserve the environment
• account for and manage assets for which it is responsible
• facilitate involvement of councillors, members of the public, users of facilities
and services and council staff in the development, improvement and co-ordination
of local government
• raise funds for local purposes by way of rates, charges and fees and investments,
loans and grants
• keep the local community informed about its activities
• ensure that in the exercise of its regulatory functions it acts without bias
• act as a responsible employer.