The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matters – such as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutations – to the Governor of Massachusetts. Councillors are elected by the general public and their duties are set forth in the Massachusetts Constitution.
The Governor's Council has gone through many different formations throughout its history, at times being simply a legal counsel, also serving as provincial magistrates and judges, sometimes acting as an executive in the absence of a Governor, to serving as an upper house of the Massachusetts General Court (the state legislature). Whether going by the name of "Council of Assistants" or Governor's Council, the power of the council has ebbed and flowed; however, it has remained a mainstay in New England politics from the earliest colonial days of Massachusetts Bay.
