Definition
Executive power is the capacity of administrators within a government to make decisions that bind the institution and its successors. It is distinct from legislative power (the authority to make rules) and judicial power (the authority to resolve disputes); executives turn rules into action and consequences into commitments.
In modern administrative states, executive power grows continuously. Each generation of administrators inherits the commitments of the previous one, layers new programs on top, and writes new charters and bond covenants that lock future executives in. The result is a public sphere increasingly governed by people who never appear on a ballot.
Why it matters
How it works
A formal title says what an administrator may do. The position's executive power is what the administrator actually does and what successors can no longer undo. The two diverge when the position controls money, contracts, and information; the divergence grows when the position is held long enough to outlast multiple elections.
Three mechanisms compound the divergence. Bond covenants pledge future revenues that no future official can reroute. Long-term contracts commit the institution to vendors and consultants whose continued cooperation is required. Construction creates physical facts that constrain future routes, uses, and budgets. Each mechanism is small in any single instance; combined and accumulated over decades, they produce administrators whose power exceeds the offices they hold.