All Topics  
Head of government

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Head of government
 
 
  Topics Head of government Topic Home

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
Executive (government)

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system
Parliamentary system

Parliamentary systems are characterized by no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, leading to a different set of checks and balances compared to those found in presidential systems....
, the head of government is often styled Prime Minister
Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of Cabinet in the Executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician....
, President of the Government
President of the Government

President of the Government is a term used in official statements to describe several Prime Ministers:* Croatia, Prime Minister of Croatia* Luxembourg, Prime Minister of Luxembourg...
, Premier
Premier

A premier is a title for the head of government in some countries.In many nations, the title "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister": for example, the "Italy Premier" is the same person as the "Italian President of the Council of Ministers"....
, etc. In presidential republics or monarchies, the head of government may be the same person as the head of state
Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
, who is often a president
President

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, company, trade unions, university, and country. Etymology, a "president" is one who Wiktionary:Preside, who sits in leadership ....
 (of the republic
Republic

A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
) or a monarch.
The current record of longest-serving head of government in a democratic nation is Tage Erlander
Tage Erlander

was a Sweden politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969.Erlander holds the record as the longest serving head of government of any democratic country, as he held his post for 23 years....
, who was social democratic prime minister
Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of Cabinet in the Executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician....
 of Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 from 1946 to 1969, a total of 23 consecutive years.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Head of government'
Start a new discussion about 'Head of government'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


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
Executive (government)

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system
Parliamentary system

Parliamentary systems are characterized by no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, leading to a different set of checks and balances compared to those found in presidential systems....
, the head of government is often styled Prime Minister
Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of Cabinet in the Executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician....
, President of the Government
President of the Government

President of the Government is a term used in official statements to describe several Prime Ministers:* Croatia, Prime Minister of Croatia* Luxembourg, Prime Minister of Luxembourg...
, Premier
Premier

A premier is a title for the head of government in some countries.In many nations, the title "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister": for example, the "Italy Premier" is the same person as the "Italian President of the Council of Ministers"....
, etc. In presidential republics or monarchies, the head of government may be the same person as the head of state
Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
, who is often a president
President

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, company, trade unions, university, and country. Etymology, a "president" is one who Wiktionary:Preside, who sits in leadership ....
 (of the republic
Republic

A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
) or a monarch.
The current record of longest-serving head of government in a democratic nation is Tage Erlander
Tage Erlander

was a Sweden politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969.Erlander holds the record as the longest serving head of government of any democratic country, as he held his post for 23 years....
, who was social democratic prime minister
Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of Cabinet in the Executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician....
 of Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 from 1946 to 1969, a total of 23 consecutive years. He won a total of eight elections and was finally succeeded due to old age.

In semi-presidential system
Semi-presidential system

The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a Prime Minister and a president are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state....
s, 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
French Fifth Republic

The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current Republicanism Constitution of France of France, which was introduced on October 5, 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing a parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system....
 (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
National Assembly

The National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as 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
Cohabitation (government)

Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the president of France is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament....
, the government controls internal state policy, with the President restricted largely to foreign affairs.