A Brief History of Executive Orders
Written by Calvin Coolidge
On September 23, 2023, Executive Orders as we knew them ceased to exist in Europeia. After the most recent Executive Order sparked backlash from the community, the Senate quickly wrote and passed a bill that would limit Executive Orders to affect executive policy only, and not laws. It was a quick shift for the region, but a popular one. An EBC poll asking about the bill showed that over 70% of respondents were in favor of the bill, and many candidates in the recent Senate election said that they would have supported the bill if it was still on the floor by the time they were sworn in. After over a decade and a half of residents in our region allowing the President the power to create law via Executive Order, why did things suddenly shift? And what were Executive Orders like before? While this article won't have all the answers, we'll do our best to provide enough context to serve as a brief history of the topic at hand. Let's dive in!
Back in 2007, when Europeia was just being founded, young HEM had to pick and choose which parts of a government made sense for his new region. One of the features that got the green light was giving the Head of State the power of Executive Orders. This was ported over from the Land of Kings and Emperors, a region where HEM used to reside that has since become one of our regions longest and most trusted allies due to our shared political and cultural connections. These Executive Orders were used right away, as you can find Executive Order 2, enacted July 14, 2007, only a few months after the region's founding. This Executive Order established Presidential medals, for what it's worth. Many Executive Orders were enacted in the region's early days, with over 60 of them put in place in the region's first 4 years, a pace of nearly 15 a year. These laws varied in length and scope, but were put in place and replaced with newer versions as the laws got updated.
However, these Executive Orders were not quite like the ones we know in the modern age, as they were required to be voted on by the Senate, as you can see referenced in this Senate discussion of Executive Order 56, back in August of 2010. In fact, back in 2008, the "Executive Order Control Amend" authored by HEM, was passed by the Senate. This law strengthened existing limits for Executive Orders, so the President could not amend the Constitution without majority Senate approval. Already in place, even in the early days of the region, were limits so the President would have to get Senate approval for all Executive Orders before they became law (with exceptions for wartime). This restriction was later removed as the region slowed down its usage of Executive Orders.
However, not all Executive Orders were worth taking completely seriously.
For instance, here is the text of Executive Order 66, enacted June 7, 2011 by President Skizzy Grey:
Many heads of state would later go on to author their own comedic Executive Orders, but as our legal system grew more professionalized, they did not make them actually enforceable, and would number them with partial integers and write in impossible scenarios that would trigger the law going into effect. A good example is President Kylia Quilor's "Executive Order 3.14" from August 12, 2013, which, among other changes, renames "Sunday" to "Pi Day" but it would only go into effect when the sun falls out of the sky.
Of course, nowadays when many Europeians think of Executive Orders, they think of controversy. This is thanks to Executive Order 97, written by First Minister Calvin Coolidge on January 17, 2020. This Executive Order, also known as the "Private Ballot Act", made it so our elections had voting tallies hidden during the time they were open. This act was quickly vetoed by the Senate, and sparked intense public backlash and debate. However, when a bill was put forth by the Senate to make Executive Orders no longer affect law, but instead only the Executive branch (much like the law that was put into effect earlier this week, it was vetoed by Chief of State Pichtonia. And then, after a public petition to put that bill in a referendum vote, the referendum was soundly defeated and the issue was dropped.
And then, Executive Order 101, regarding the President and the Director of the Europeian Intelligence Agency's power to edit citizens' posts if they are deemed to contain sensitive information sparked controversy upon its introduction by President JayDee. A certified question petition was drawn up immediately, but the request to certify was rejected by the Court. Additionally, while the Senate began discussing a veto, it failed to garner much support, and was withdrawn. However, despite these setbacks, opponents of Executive Orders saw an opening, and passed the Executive Order Recalibration Act, which was signed by the President.
Thus ended one of the most powerful tools in a President's toolbelt, after many years of discussion, alterations, and backlash, one bad week was all it took. What form the new Executive Orders will take, and what discussions they will lead to remains to be seen, but for now, we carry on with our business, waiting for the next hot-button issue to rear its head.
