One of the newly created states after the implosion of a former Soviet republic has an executive council.
Yeah, you do need some kind of executive function, but it shouldn't be separate from the legislative branch--checks and balances are a great idea if everyone believes in them. But a single executive holding as much power as the US president does is dangerous. Although I suppose no matter what, if people are willing to let someone seize power it really doesn't matter what form of government is in place. Maybe the desire for a king is just ingrained in some people.
Technically the president's not supposed to have that much power. We've just all been merrily watching as we let them write more and more executive orders, declare more and more military actions without congressional approval, make appointments to cabinet and judiciary positions with little to no pushback... The problem is not with how the office of the president was initially conceived. It's with how we, as a people, have deified those figures. We treat presidents in this country like short-term monarchies, in both deference and loyalty. Remember when people rightly mocked the concept of an elected queen in The Phantom Menace? Doesn't seem so silly now, does it?
Unfortunately the seed of the "Imperial Presidency" is the Constitution itself. A single individual being granted executive power ensures that someone will eventually abuse it...which happened nearly immediately. To @RickDeckard's point, someone needs to coordinate matters somehow, but that person should be an integral part of the legislative branch. Not separate, with nearly zero power without the group's approval, and with extremely short, single terms. There's no method of government that can't be corrupted, but the USA has been a monarchy waiting to happen from the start.
Sanfler died in 2019. Bauman has been dead for almost a year. But all these people have something in common besides progressive views. One guess.
Testing. Always testing to see how much "imperial presidency" John Roberts will eventually let him have.
Here it is in plain language - if the constitution conflicts with Ceaser's will, the constitution must yield. EXCLUSIVE: Trump Makes Aggressive New Claim of Executive Power To Circumvent The Senate - TPM – Talking Points Memo
Been sayin to watch for this as it gets more and more bold: Courts -"Don't" Trump - "How are you gonna stop me?" With Republicans entirely submissive there's no obvious answer to this question