The main executive branch of Colombia is to manage public policies and manage the nation's assets.
The Executive branch Of Colombia is one of the three functions of the State established in the constitution of the Republic of Colombia.
This one is managed by the national government and its responsibility rests, mainly, on the President of the Republic and its ministers.
The separation of powers is one of the main characteristics of modern democracy and consists of the designation of independent organizations that manage the different areas of public power: executive, legislative and judicial.
In this way, it seeks to ensure balance and ensure cooperation between different agencies and functions of the state and avoid the accumulation of power.
The executive branch is composed of bodies such as the presidency, the governorates, the mayors, superintendencies, public establishments and State enterprises.
The president who assumes the functions of Head of State, Head of Government and Supreme Administrative Authority, is responsible together with the vice president and his ministers to ensure the policies of education, economy, health, etc. And to act in the name of the popular will to which it represents.
Positions and functions of the executive branch of Colombia
It is the responsibility of the executive branch to deal with the day-to-day management of the State. The functions of the executive branch can be categorized into three areas: political, administrative and regulatory.
The political facet is responsible for leading the nation and attending to tasks not regularized by law such as the appointment of ministers or the approval of special treaties.
The administrative is responsible for managing the various institutions under their care, such as governorates and ministries, to ensure their proper functioning. Finally, regulation has an important role, with the implementation of decrees.
The functions of the executive branch are distributed among the different institutions and positions that compose it, being the main ones:
1- President
The last three presidents of Colombia: Andrés Pastrana, Álvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos
It must be elected every four years by universal and direct vote assumes, as mentioned above, the roles of Head of State, Head of Government and Supreme Administrative Authority in parallel.
It must, in accordance with article 188 of the Constitution"guarantee the rights and freedoms of all Colombians", and therefore must fulfill a wide range of responsibilities, including:
- Represent the country internationally.
- Elect ministers, direction of government agencies, ambassadors, etc.
- Enact laws and ensure compliance.
- To issue decrees and orders.
- Decide the nation's development plans.
- Exercise control over the investment of public resources.
- Regulate foreign exchange and international trade.
- Direct the armed forces and war operations if necessary.
- Enact laws and ensure.
2- Vice President
It must also be elected by popular vote, it is the provisional substitute of the president in case of temporary absence, incapacitation or death of the same, and is in charge of assuming any special task designated by him. Added to this, you are assigned some duties as:
- Represent Colombia in international activities.
- Advise national organizations on issues such as human rights and drug trafficking.
3- Ministers
They are in charge specifically of the office that is designated to him. The current ministries are agriculture, health, interior and justice, culture, communications, economic development, finance, justice and law, mining and energy, transport, interior, environment and education. Its functions in these entities are:
- Manage ministry administration.
- Formulate the policies of your office.
- Submit to the congress the bills.
- Represent the government before the congress as spokespersons.
- Execute the law.
4- Directors of administrative departments
They take care of Security, statistics, social prosperity and other issues of importance to the nation.
Just as the ministers are in charge of managing and supervising the proper functioning of their department. Therefore assume the responsibilities of:
- Manage your dependencies.
- Formulate the policies corresponding to your department.
- Execute the law.
The executive branch also has other entities such as superintendencies secretaries, top management councils, governorates, departmental assemblies, municipalities, comptrollers and districts, which play an important role in shaping this power.
Separation of powers in Colombia
According to the NGO Future Challenges, In Colombia the separation of powers functions more flexibly than in other countries and the distribution of the functions of the public power is based on a principle of collaboration between the different organisms.
The Branch of the legislative branch , Whose major representation the Congress of the Republic, is responsible for managing everything related to the creation, interpretation, reform and repeal of laws.
The congress is made up of two main bodies: the Senate and the House of Representatives whose officers are elected by popular vote and are therefore a representation of their will.
This branch has the power to reform the constitution, supervise the management of ministers and other government authorities, appoint judicial authorities and exercise public control over any matter investigated by its commissions.
The third and last branch of public power is the judicial branch. Its objective is to administer the justice of the nation and to ensure compliance with the laws.
It comprises the following entities: the Attorney General's Office, the High Courts (the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the State Council, the Superior Council of the Judiciary) and the Special Jurisdictions.
The structure of the Colombian state works by combining the three branches in conjunction with the Control Body -the Comptroller's Office, the Ombudsman's Office and the Office of the Attorney General-and the Electoral Organizations to allow the just and balanced functioning of public power.
Being a presidential state, the executive branch has, sometimes a little more weight, to declare a state of emergency.
However, through a mechanism of checks and balances, which consists of the independence of the powers and agencies, it avoids the accumulation of powers in any of these.
Thus, as in any democracy, work is constantly done to level the levels of power so that the state functions in the most transparent and beneficial way for citizens under its tutelage.
References
- Cultural Deputy of the Bank of the Republic. (2015). Executive branch . Retrieved from: banrepcultural.org.
- Nyulawglobal.org. (2017). An Introduction to Colombian Governmental Institutions and Primary Legal Sources - GlobaLex . Retrieved from: nyulawglobal.org.
- Countrystudies.us. (2017). Colombia - The President . Retrieved from: countrystudies.us.
- Querejazu, A. (2017). FutureChallenges »The Flexible Separation of Powers in Colombia . Retrieved from: futurechallenges.org.
- C-politica.uniandes.edu.co. (2017). Organization Chart of the Colombian State-Executive Branch . Retrieved from: c-politica.uniandes.edu.co.