Organs of the Government

The organs of the government refer to the different branches or institutions that make up the structure of a government and are responsible for carrying out its functions.

Primarily, there are 3 branches or organs of the government. These 3 organs of the government are:-

1. The Legislature;
2. The Executive; and
3. The Judiciary

1. Organs of the Government – The Legislature

Function: The legislative branch is responsible for making laws.

Components: This branch typically includes a parliament or congress, which may be bicameral (having two houses, such as Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in India, or the Senate and the House of Representatives in the United States) or unicameral (having one house).

Example: In India, the legislative branch is the Parliament. In the United States, the legislative branch is Congress; in the United Kingdom, it is Parliament.

2. Organs of the Government – The Executive

Function: The executive branch is responsible for implementing and enforcing laws.

Components: This branch includes the president, prime minister, or monarch, along with their cabinets and various governmental agencies and departments.

Example: In India, the executive branch is headed by the President with the Prime Minister to aid and advise the President. In the United States, the executive branch is headed by the President; in the United Kingdom, it is headed by the Prime Minister and the monarch.

3. Organs of the Government – The Judiciary

Function: The judicial branch interprets laws and ensures they are applied fairly and equally.

Components: This branch is made up of courts, including the Supreme Court, lower courts, and other judicial institutions.

Example: In India, the judiciary branch includes the Supreme Court, the High Courts and other subordinate courts. In the United States, the judicial branch includes the Supreme Court and other federal courts; in the United Kingdom, it includes the Supreme Court and other courts.

India is a Democratic Republic

Democratic: In India, we have democratic system. This means that the the legislature and the executive are elected by the people either directly or indirectly.

Regarding the Executive, we have a Parliamentary Republic type of government. It means the head of the state and the government are two different people. The head of the government is the leader of the majority party in the legislature and the head of the government is also responsible to the legislature.

Republic: A Republic State is a state in which the political power rests with the public and their representatives. India is a republic. This means that the political power of the state is not a monarchy (like Kings or Queens) or dictatorship or rests with a hereditary family. The political power rests with the President who is representative of the public either directly or indirectly.

Head of a State and Head of a Government: The highest representative of a sovereign state is termed as Head of State. In many sovereign states, depending on their political and constitutional setup, the Head of State is also the Head of the Government. While in many sovereign states, the Head of the State and Head of the Government are different. In India, the Head of State is the President while the Head of Government is Prime Minister.

The Preamble: The Preamble of the Constitution too reflects the concept of India being a democratic republic. The Preamble clearly mentions India to be a democratic republic.