Head of government
The
head of government is the leader of the
government or
cabinet. In a
parliamentary system, the Head of government is often styled
Premier,
Prime minister etc. :
This article focuses on the cases where the head of government is a separate office from the Head of state.In
presidential systems or imperial systems, the Head of government may be the same person as the
Head of state, who is often titled
President (of the
republic) or
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, though they are, of course, forced to work with each other.
The most common title for a head of government is "Prime Minister." This is used as a formal title in many states, but also informally a generic term to describe the Head of government, who is formally the first amongst the executive ministers" of an otherwise styled Head of state "Minister" —
Latin for servants or subordinates — is a common title for members of a government (but many other titles are in use). Formally the "Head of State" has precedence over the Prime Minister 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 checking the Head of government, include the following.Some of these titles relate to governments below the national level (e.g. states or provinces)
Alternate English terms & renderings
*
Chief Minister*
First Minister*
Head of the Government*
Minister-President*
Premier, from French
Premier ministre*
President of the Cabinet*
President of the Council of Ministers*
President of the Council of State*
President of the Executive Council*
Chairman of the Executive Council*
President of the Government*
State PresidentEquivalent titles in other languages
*
Bundeskanzler (Federal)
Chancellor (German)
*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:
*
Diwan *
Mahamantri *
Ministro e Secretário de Estado dos Negócios do Reino (Brazil); later from 12 October 1822,
Ministro e Secretário de Estado dos Negócios do Império*
Pradhan *
Wasir or
Grand VizierWeak 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:
*
Mayor of the Palace of the Merovingian kingdoms
*
Nawab wasir of the Mughal Empire (also governor of
Awadh)
*
Peshwa of
Satara and the
Maratha empire*
Shogun in the empire of Japan
*
Sultan in the original case of the
Seljuk Turks who made the
Caliphs of
Baghdad their puppets; later both styles were often used for absolute rulers in
NepalHeads of State as Head of Government
In some models the head of state and head of government are one and the same. These include:
* (Executive)
President* Absolutist Monarch reigning and
ruling without a Prime minister (or nominating himself)
*
Chief Magistrate*
Führer-model as used in Nazi Germany (but not always). 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.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 some other states 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:
** Defeat in a
general election.
** Defeat in a
leadership vote at their party
caucus, to be replaced by another member of the same party.
** Defeat in a parliamentary vote on a major issue, e.g.
loss of supply,
loss of confidence. (In such cases, a head of government may seek a
parliamentary dissolution from the Head of state and attempt to regain support by popular vote).
* 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 head of government 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, with the Prime Minister just one member voting on the suggestion. Under the
UK's constitution, the Prime Minister's role has evolved, based often on the individual's personal appeal and strength of character, as contrasted between, for example,
Winston Churchill as against
Clement Attlee,
Margaret Thatcher as against
John Major.
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, when in power.
The head of government is often provided with an
official residence, in the same way as Heads of state often are. The name of the residence is often used as a
metonym or alternate title for 'the government' when teh office is politically the highest, e.g. in the UK "10 Downing Street announced today..."
Well-known official residences of heads of government include:
*
10 Downing Street in
London — Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom (who also has a country residence
Chequers)
*
Catshuis — Minister-president of
The Netherlands*
24 Sussex Drive in the federal capital
Ottawa — Prime Minister of
Canada*
Kantei in
Tokyo — Prime Minister of
Japan*
Kirribilli House in
Sydney; and
The Lodge in
Canberra — Prime Minister of
Australia*
Hôtel Matignon,
Paris— French Prime Minister (a grand palace is called a
hôtel in French)
* 'the' Lambermont, inconspicuous, actually the name of the street,
Brussels — federal Prime Minister of
Belgium (a project to move to a grander palace was abandoned after public protests)
*
Palacio de la Moncloa — President of the Council of Ministers in
Madrid,
Spain*
Premier House in
Wellington — Prime Minister of
New Zealand*
Sager House in
Stockholm — Prime Minister of
SwedenFuller list in the
official residence article.
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, sometimes used as an opportunity to display its aspirations of statehood, e.g.:
* In Belgium,
Minister-presidents: the
Hotel Errera of the (northern, majority, Dutch-speaking)
Flemish community and region (in Brussels) and the
Élysette (a diminutive in French of the
Élysée, the French presidential palace) of the
Walloon region, in
Namur.
However, Heads of governments' residences are usually far less grand then the palace of a Head of state (even a merely ceremonial one), unless they combine both roles, as for example:
* The
White House (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue),
Washington, D.C. — President of the
United States of America)
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.
*Jean Blondel & Ferdinand Muller-Rommel
Cabinets in Western Europe (ISBN 0333462092)
*
WorldStatesmen click on each present country
*
Executive*
Parliamentary system*
Head of State
