the president

the president

The President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership (from Latin pre- "before" + sedere "to sit"; giving the term praeses). Originally, the term referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or meeting (i.e. chairman ); but today it most commonly refers to an official with executive powers.

As the country's head of state, in most countries the president is entitled to certain perquisites, and may have a prestigious residence; often a lavish mansion or palace, sometimes more than one (e.g. summer and winter residence, country retreat) - for a list see Official residence.

Furthermore in some nations the Presidency enjoys certain symbols of office, such as an official uniform, decorations, a presidential seal, coat of arms, flag and other visible accessories; military honours such as gun salutes, Ruffles and flourishes, and a presidential guard. A common presidential symbol is the presidential sashes worn by Latin American presidents as a symbol of the presidency's continuity, and presenting the sash to the new president.

Presidents in democratic countries

Presidential systems

In states with a presidential system of government, the President exercises the functions of Head of State and Head of Government, i.e. he directs the Executive arm of Government.

Presidents in this system are either directly elected by popular vote or indirectly elected by an electoral college. In the United States of America, the President is indirectly elected by the Electoral College made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In most USA states, each elector is committed to voting for a specified candidate determined by the popular vote in each state, so that the people, in voting for each elector, is in effect voting for the candidate. However, in several close USA elections (notably 1876, 1888, 2000), the candidate with the most popular votes still lost the electoral count.

Many South American, Central American, and African nations follow the presidential model.

Parliamentary systems

Other states have adopted a parliamentary system of government, in which the president is head of state but largely ceremonial. In these cases the separate head of government (often a prime minister), who is usually indirectly elected by the parliamentary majority, holds the executive power and forms the government.

Countries with such systems include most European and Commonwealth republics including Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and Singapore, as well as Portugal (which has a slightly different system). The president of Nauru is, however, elected by the pariament according to the Westminster system and acts as both the head of state and head of government. This is also the case for the presidents of Botswana and South Africa (since 1984).

Under such a system, the president as head of state generally takes a similar role to a constitutional monarch, with the government governing in his or her name, producing phrases such as "His/Her Excellency's Government" in formal state documentation.

A president may also possess some reserve powers, which can be exercised by the president without formal advice (that is, binding instruction) from the government. In some constitutional systems the president chairs (at least some) cabinet meetings and often has access to all cabinet memoranda. Especially in fields where protocol is important, such as diplomacy, the head of state tends to be a major player. The president can therefore exercise a degree of informal influence not often publicly realised.

For example, between 1870 and 1940, and again from 1945 to 1958, France operated a classic parliamentary system of government, with power in a cabinet chosen by the National Assembly, and a largely, though not totally, symbolic president; in 1877, President Mac-Mahon showed that his office was constitutionally significant when he dismissed the prime minister before calling new elections, in the hope of achieving a royalist majority to restore the monarchy (the plan failed).

Semi-presidential systems

A third system is the semi-presidential system, also known as the French system, in which like the Parliamentary system there is both a president and a prime minister, but unlike the parliamentary system, the president may have significant day to day power. When his party controls the majority of seats in the National Assembly, the president can operate closely with the parliament and prime minister, and work towards a common agenda. When the National Assembly is controlled by opponents of the President however, the president can find himself marginalized with the opposition party prime minister exercising most of the power. Though the prime minister remains an appointee of the president, the president must obey the rules of parliament, and select a leader from the house's majority holding party. Thus, sometimes the president and prime minister can be allies, sometimes rivals; the latter situation is known as cohabitation. Variants of the French semi-presidential system, developed at the beginning of the Fifth Republic by Charles de Gaulle, are used in France, Finland, Poland, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka and several post-colonial countries which have emulated the French model.

Collective Presidency

Only a tiny minority of modern republics do not have a single head of state; examples include:

Switzerland, where the headship of state is collectively vested in the seven-member Swiss Federal Council despite the fact the system includes a president of the Confederation. The president is a member of the Federal Council elected by the Federal Assembly (the Swiss Parliament) for a year (constitutional convention mandates that the post rotates every New Year's Day).
The Captains Regent of San Marino elected by the Grand and General Council.
In the Soviet Union, while the real power was exercised by the general secretary of the Communist Party, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet executed powers of collective head of state, and its chairman was often called "president" in the West.

Among other things, president today is a common title for the head of state of most republics, whether popularly elected, chosen by the legislature or a special electoral college. It is also often adopted by dictators.

Find a Villa from Across Europe

Grand World Villas - Find a Villa from anywhere in the world

Grand Global Villas - Find Villas from Around the Globe

Planet Villas

An Index with links to almost all our sites.

Get a Villa in Spain

Villas in Portugal

Holiday to - Great places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 2 - More Great places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 3 - More places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 4 - More places to go on Holiday to

Holidays to 5

Holidays to 6