There are above all powers which the Ministers exercise in the Council of Ministers, and it is here that the mixed character of the regulations provided by the Constitution is revealed still more clearly. The predominant position accorded the Chancellor comes from the fact that he presides over the Council of Ministers--when the President of the Reich is not present; and the fact that in case of a tie he decides. It may be asked if the Chancellor can be put in the minority and what would result from such a situation. Theoretically, according to the _collegiate principle_, a decision adopted by the majority must always be executed. But it seems that the Ministry cannot go against the opinion of the Chancellor, who alone has the right to fix the general lines of policy and who in addition can always exercise the threat of resigning, which would thereby involve the fall of the whole Ministry. The Council of Ministers has its own order of procedure which must be approved by the President. On the other hand, the collegiate system is found to be very widely applied in the ensemble of the provisions vesting in the Council of Ministers some of the most important powers that properly belong to Ministers. The Chancellor fixes the general course of the policy to be pursued by the government; but the Ministers must see to it that in their various departments the policies practised conform to this general course, as well as that their individual policies do not conflict with the interests or the policies of other departments. Also the Constitution itself enumerates a certain number of matters which cannot be dealt with except in the Council of Ministers; and it provides that ordinary laws may extend the number and character of these matters. They are as follows: (1) All projects of law. In contrast to what occurs in France, it is not the chief of state who has the initiative in laws but the Council of Ministers. All projects of laws emanating from the Cabinet must be discussed and drawn up in the Council before being sent to the Reichstag. (2) All matters that touch the domains of the authority of the various Ministers, and on which the latter cannot privately come to an agreement. (3) The power to issue ordinances. In Germany there is no organ that has general authority to make all ordinances. A particular organ can only prescribe ordinances within its own limits and to the end assigned to it by the Constitution or ordinary laws. We have seen that such is the case for the President; and such is also the case for the Cabinet. The Cabinet of the Reich may prescribe regulations of three kinds: (_a_) Sometimes the Cabinet of the Reich has authority to prescribe _only_ a regulation. This is particularly the case when it has to prescribe administrative measures of the general character necessary for the execution of a law. (Article 77.)