Executive Yuan (Republic of China)

The Executive Yuan or Cabinet is the chief executive and administrative authority of the Republic of China central government. It consists of a ministerial council, collectively responsible to the Legislative Yuan, who set policies within the central government's constitutional purview, submit bills and budgets, issues ordinances, and makes administrative decisions based on laws, and a Secretariat supports the functions of the former.

Function

Active powers

The Constitution vests in the Executive Yuan the active powers to initiate bills, budgets, declaration and termination of war, impositions of a state of siege, issuances of amnesties, ratification of treates. Of these, the power to initiate bills is considered a shared power with the Legislative Yuan, while others are exclusive powers, that is the Legislative Yuan or private petitioners may not initiate budgetary measures, declarations of war etc. The rationale for such a convention is that such specialized measures are best left to the technocratic apparatus of the executive branch, while the legislature still retains a veto.

Passive powers

There are other powers vested in the Executive Yuan which are not subject to its initiation. The power to issue emergency decrees with force of law is possessed by the President but may only be exercised with the assent of the Executive Yuan; in practice, the informal initiative still lies with the Executive Yuan, but the President, technically holding the power of initiative, may refuse such request. Likewise, the President may promulgate laws only with the Executive Yuan's advice, but the power of initiative is not with the Executive Yuan.

The power of appointment is a special case as multiple agencies or officials may possess separate roles in a single appointment, in the highly-regulated government bureaucracy. Public servants of the first class (簡任, ken-nyem) are subject to the Executive Yuan's sanctions before clearing

Structure

Cabinet

The Cabinet (行政院會議) is the collegiate body that has the function of a cabinet. According to Article 57 of the Constitution, it consists of the heads of the ministerial departments and ministers without portfolio. The Cabinet meets weekly, usually on Thursdays, but can meet at unscheduled times if its members consider it necessary.

In principle, whenever the Constitution mentions the Executive Yuan, it means the Cabinet as the chief executive body.The collegiate character of the Cabinet is provided for in the Constitution, stating that the authority vested in the Executive Yuan can be exercised only by the Cabinet's resolution, and not pursuant to a final decision of any of its members.

Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is the chairperson of the Cabinet and by standing rules has the authority to set the Cabinet agenda.

The Prime Minister alone is subject to a formal approbation by the Legislative Yuan at appointment; without this approbation, the Prime Minister can still work but only in a caretaker capacity, that is, without the legitimacy to introduce any major policy changes or the budget.

Secretariat

The Secretariat, which is bureaucratically part of the Executive Yuan, supports the Cabinet in its functions and does not exercise any independent power at the constitutional level. Nevertheless, the Cabinet regularly charges it with important tasks such as investigating issues or preparing reports to be read at Cabinet or committee meetings, and even matters of significant administrative power can be left to the Secretariat if the Cabinet itself has made a policy clearly guiding how the Secretariat should act.

Ministries

The ministries under the Executive Yuan serve the purpose of carrying out administrative functions set forth by law. The latitude in these laws are subject to the policy objectives determined by the Executive Yuan. The political head of each ministry is by the Constitution a member of the ministerial council.

There are currently 15 ministeries and 2 standing commissions under the Executive Yuan, being:

• Ministry of the Interior (內政部)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外交部)
• Ministry of Finance (財政部)
• Ministry of Defence (國防部)
• Ministry of Commerce (貿易部)
• Ministry of Industry (實業部)
• Ministry of Education (教育部)
• Ministry of Transport (交通部)
• Ministry of Culture (文化部)
• Ministry of Labour (勞動部)
• Ministry of Social Services (社會部)
• Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (農業部)
• Ministry of Justice (司法部)
• Ministry of Statistics (主計部)
• Commission for Mongolia and Tibet (蒙藏委員會)
• Commission for Expatriot Affairs (僑務委員會)

Relationships

Control Yuan

• The Constitution and accounting laws of China require the Executive Yuan to submit its financial statement to the Ministry of Audit (審計部), which functions under the indirectly-elected Control Yuan. The financial statement is prepared by the Ministry of Statistics (主計部), which is an independent agency under the Executive Yuan.

Provinces

• The Executive Yuan directs the provincial governments with respect to matters on the shared list (Article 108) in accordance with central statutes. Where central statutes do not provide an active role for the Executive Yuan, it may still supervise the provincial governments as the source of its budget.
• The Executive Yuan organizes the Chief Executive Conference (行政首長會議), which occurs every year and is attended by the central and provincial heads of government.

List of cabinets

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No.	President	Cabinet	Approbation	Resignation	Legislative Yuan	Notes
1	Hu Shih	Chiang Kai-shek I	3 May 1948	15 July 1953	1948, 1951
2		Yen Sik-san	17 July 1953	14 February 1954	1951
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