One Chief Executive or Many?

Abstract

This chapter compares the unitary executive at the federal level with the plural executive at the state level. The fifty state constitutions and the United States Constitution share a “surface similarity” in describing the authority of their chief executives: They both vest executive power in a governor or president. But in practice, there are many differences. At the national level, the US Constitution places all executive authority in one president who controls the executive-branch officers through the singular authority to choose all cabinet members. What’s called a unitary executive largely is one, given the president’s authority to hire and fire these executive branch officers. Contrast the state side. In response to the states’ colonial experiences with a monarch, many of the first state constitutions created weak executive branches. All but one of the original state constitutions also mandated that the governor work alongside an executive council. In many states, constitutional executive offices—secretary, treasurer, auditor—are often chosen by the legislature. The rise of the state attorneys general as a source of local and national power offers one illustration of the salience of the plural executive.