- This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State.
The Head of Government is the chief officer of the executive branch of
a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled Prime
Minister, Premier, etc. In presidential
republics or monarchies, the head of government may be the same person as the head of state, who is often a president (of the republic) or a monarch.
In semi-presidential systems, the Head of Government may answer to both the
Head of State and the legislative power (such as parliament). An example is the French
Fifth Republic (1958-present), where the Président de la République appoints a Prime Minister but must choose
someone who can get government business through, and has the support of, the National
Assembly. When the opposition controls the National Assembly (and thus government funding and most legislation), the
President is in effect forced to choose a Prime Minister from the opposition; in such cases, known as cohabitation, the government controls internal state policy, with the President restricted
largely to foreign affairs.
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Types and titles of heads of government
The most common title for a head of government is "Prime Minister."[citation needed] This is used as a formal title in many states, but also informally as a
generic term to describe whichever office is formally the first amongst the executive "ministers" of a Head of State. Minister — from the Latin for servants or
subordinates (i.e. servant or subordinate to the Head of State) — is a common title for members of a government (but many other
titles are in use, e.g. secretary (of state)).
Formally, the "Head of State" can also personally be Head of Government (ex officio or by ad hoc cumulation such
as an absolute monarch nominating himself) but otherwise has formal precedence over the Head of Government and other ministers,
whether he is their actual political superior (Absolute Monarch, Executive President) or rather theoretical or ceremonial in
character. Various constitutions use different titles, and even the same title can have various political meanings depending on
the constitution and political system of the state in question.
As political chief
In addition to Prime Minister, titles used for the democratic model, where there is an elected legislative body holding the
Head of Government to account, include the following:
Some of these titles relate to governments below the national level (e.g. states or provinces)
Alternate English terms & renderings
Equivalent titles in other languages
- Bundeskanzler (Federal) Chancellor (German; used
in Germany and Austria)
- In federal Malaysia the Heads of government of the constituent states are called in the
Malay language either Ketua Menteri "Chief Minister" in the Malaysian states without a monarchy
(Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak), or Menteri Besar "Great Minister" in the sultanates
and other monarchic states.
- Lehendakari (Basque Country)
- Pääministeri (Finnish)
- Statsminister (Scandinavian)
- Taoiseach (Irish)
Under a Dominant Head of State
In a broader sense, "Prime Minister" can be used loosely to refer to various comparable positions under a Head of State that
is an absolute monarch (especially is the case of ancient or feudal eras, so the term "Prime Minister" in this case could be
considered an anachronism). In this case, the "Prime Minister" serves at the pleasure of the Monarch and holds no more power than
the Monarch allows. In some cases a disgraced Head of Government has even been executed for his failure. Some such titles
are:
Under a weak Head of State
In some cases, the Head of State is a figurehead whilst the Head of the Government leads
the ruling party. In some cases a Head of Government may even pass on the title in hereditary fashion. Such titles include the
following:
Head of State as Head of Government
In some models the Head of State and Head of Government are one and the same. These include:
An alternative formula is a single chief political body (e.g. presidium) which collectively
leads the government and provides (e.g. by turns) the ceremonial Head of State See Head of
State for further explanation of these cases.
Parliamentary Heads of Government
In parliamentary systems, government functions along the following lines:
- The Head of Government — usually the leader of the majority party or coalition — forms the government, which is answerable to
parliament;
- Full answerability of government to parliament is achieved through
- The ability of parliament to pass a vote of no confidence.
- The ability to vote down legislative proposals of the government.
- Control over or ability to vote down fiscal measures and the 'budget' (or 'supply');
a government is powerless without control of the state finances. In a bicameral system, it
is often the so-called lower house, e.g. the British House of Commons that exercises the major elements of control and oversight; in some
others, e.g. Australia and Italy, the government is
constitutionally or by convention answerable to both chambers/Houses of Parliament.
All of these requirements directly impact the Head of Government's role. Consequently, they often play a 'day to day' role in
parliament, answering questions and defending the government on the 'floor of the House', while in semi-presidential systems they may not be required to play as much of a role in the functioning
of parliament.
Appointment
In many countries, the Head of Government is commissioned by the Head of State to form a government on the basis of the
strength of party support in the lower house. In other states the Head of Government is directly elected by parliament. Many
parliamentary systems require ministers to serve in parliament, while others ban ministers from sitting in parliament; they must
resign on becoming ministers.
Removal
Heads of Government are typically removed from power in a parliamentary system by
- Resignation, following:
- Dismissal — some constitutions allow a Head of State (or his designated representative, as is the case in Commonwealth countries) to dismiss a Head of Government, though its use can be controversial, as
occurred in 1975 when then Australian Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed Prime
Minister Gough Whitlam in the Australian Constitutional Crisis.
- Death — in this case, the deputy Head of Government typically acts as the Head of Government until a new one is
appointed.
First among equals or dominating the cabinet?
Constitutions differ in the range and scope of powers granted to the Head of Government. Some older constitutions (for
example, Australia's 1900 text, and Belgium's 1830 text) do
not mention the office of Prime Minister at all, the office becoming a de facto reality without formal constitutional status.
Some constitutions make a Prime Minister primus inter pares (first among
equals) and that remains the practical reality in places like Finland and Belgium. Other states however, make their Prime Minister a central and dominant figure within the cabinet
system; Ireland's Taoiseach, for example, alone
can decide when to seek a parliamentary dissolution, in contrast to other countries where this is a cabinet decision.
It is alleged that the increased personalisation of leadership in a number of states has led to Prime Ministers becoming
themselves "semi-presidential" figures, due in part to: media coverage of politics that focuses on the leader and his or her
mandate, rather than on parliament; and to the increasing centralisation of power in the hands of the Prime Minister. Such
allegations have been made against two recent British Prime Ministers, Margaret
Thatcher and Tony Blair. They were also made against Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Chancellor of West Germany (later all of Germany), Helmut Kohl.
Official residence
The Head of Government is often provided with an official residence, in the same
way as Heads of State often are.
Well-known official residences of heads of government include:
See official residence article for a fuller list.
The name of the residence is often used as a metonym or alternate title for 'the government'
when the office is politically the highest, e.g. "10 Downing Street" would be used as an alternative form of "the British
government".
Similarly the Heads of Government of (con)federal entities below the level of the sovereign state (often without an actual Head of State, at least under international law) may also be given
an official residence. This is sometimes used as an opportunity by provincial/regional governments to display aspirations of
statehood, e.g.:
However, Heads of Governments' residences are usually far less grand than those of a Head of State (even a merely ceremonial
one), unless they combine both roles, as for example:
Even the formal representative of the Head of State, such as a Governor-General, may well be housed in a grander palace-type
residence, often with such names as Government House.
See also
References
- Jean Blondel & Ferdinand Muller-Rommel Cabinets in Western Europe (ISBN 0-333-46209-2)
- WorldStatesmen (click on each country)
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
