In the approval or veto of a bill presented, the executive is not limited to the mere determination of whether the bill, if it becomes a statute, will be valid or constitutional. The executive may take into account all those considerations which may properly influence the members of the legislative body in determining whether they should favor or oppose the proposed legislation. In the exercise of his functions in this respect, the president or the governor acts in reality as a branch of the legislative department. He exercises substantially the authority which, under the constitution of England, is exercised by the king with reference to legislation, subject, however, to the limitation which was a feature novel in forms of government, that the proposed bill may become a law upon passage over the executive veto by the requisite majority of each branch of the legislative body.

In practice the president or a governor actually exercises greater authority than is now exercised in this respect by the king of England, for in England the sovereign since 1715 has uniformly approved all bills which have been presented to him by Parliament. The English practice results from the custom prevailing there that the king acts only through the ministry, composed of officers appointed by him from the dominant party in Parliament, so that the measures favored by the ministry, as it is called, are the measures which receive the approval of Parliament, and, therefore, will likewise receive the approval of the king. In other words, the king, in his relations with Parliament, does not exercise his individual will or judgment, but adopts the judgment of the officers who represent him, and who are selected for the reason that they can secure the approval of Parliament for the measures which they propose. Under the constitutional system of the United States, the chief executive, whether president or governor, has an individual responsibility, and exercises an independent judgment; and while it is likely that, being an elective officer, his political views will correspond with those of the majority in the legislative body, it by no means follows that he will necessarily approve all measures which have received the support of the majority in each branch of the legislative body.