Encyclopedia
Head of State or
Chief of State is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of monarchic or republican
nation-state,
federation, commonwealth or any other political state. His or her role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers, functions and duties granted to the Head of State in the country's
constitution.
Charles de Gaulle described the role he envisaged for the French president when he wrote the modern French
constitution. He said a Head of State should embody "the spirit of the nation" to the nation itself and to the world:
une certaine idée de la France . Today many countries expect their Head of State to embody national values in a similar fashion.
Constitutional models
Different countries have different executive systems but in essence four major, generalizing categories can be distinguished:
|-
|
|}
A
parliamentary system, also known as
parliamentarianism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government [i] ...
in which the Head of State possesses theoretical executive power but the exercise of this power is delegated to a head of government, and
- the non-executive Head of State system in which the Head of State does not hold any executive power and mainly plays a symbolic role on behalf of the state.
Presidential system
Note: 'presidential' in this context does not automatically imply a president but any Head of State –elected, hereditary, or dictatorial– who 'presides'. It is sometimes called the Imperial model, without regard for the monarchic title Emperor, rather referring to the luster.Some constitutions or fundamental laws provide for a Head of State who is not just
in theory but
in practice chief executive, operating separately from, and independent from, the legislature. This system is sometimes known as a
presidential system because the government is answerable solely and exclusively to a 'presiding' activist Head of State, and is selected by and on occasion dismissed by the Head of State without reference to the legislature. It is notable that some presidential systems, while not providing for collective executive answerability to the legislature, may require legislative approval for individuals prior to their assumption of cabinet office and empower the legislature to remove a president from office . In this case the debate centres on the suitability of the individual for office, not a judgment on them when appointed, and does not involve the power to reject or approve proposed cabinet members
en bloc so it is not
answerability in the sense understood in a parliamentary system.
Some presidential systems may also include a
prime minister but as with the other ministers they are responsible to the President, not the legislature. In many such instances the office is of minimal political importance, sometimes even held by some administrative technocrat rather than a politician. A prime minister in a presidential system lacks the constitutional and political dominance of a prime minister in a parliamentary system and is often seen as simply a politically junior figure who may run the mechanics of government while allowing the President to set the broad national agenda. One could say that, whereas in parliamentary systems a prime minister may be master of his or her party and the government, prime ministers in presidential systems are usually the servants, with the Head of State the master of the government who can hire and fire anyone, including the prime minister, at will.
Presidential Systems of Governments are a notable feature of constitutions in the
Americas, notably the
United States. Most presidents in the system are selected by democratic means , however, like all other systems, the presidential model also encompasses people who become Head of State by other means, notably through military dictatorship or
coup d'état, as seen in South American, Middle Eastern, and other presidential regimes. Some of the characteristics of a presidential system can also be found among
absolute monarchies,
parliamentary monarchies, and
Communist regimes, but in most cases of dictatorship apply their stated Constitutional models in name only, and not in political theory or practise.
In the 1870s in the United States in the aftermath of the
impeachment of President
Andrew Johnson and his near removal from office it was speculated that the United States too would move from a presidential system to a semi-presidential or even parliamentary one, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives becoming the real centre of government as a quasi-prime minister. This did not happen and the presidency, having been damaged by two late nineteenth century assassinations and one impeachment , reasserted its political dominance by the early twentieth century through such figures as
Theodore Roosevelt and
Woodrow Wilson.
Semi-presidential systems
Semi-presidential systems combine features of Presidential and Parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to
both the President and the legislature. The Constitution of the current French Fifth Republic provides for a prime minister who is chosen by the President but who nevertheless must be able to gain support in the
National Assembly. Where in France a president is of one side of the political spectrum and the opposition is in control of the legislature, the president is often forced to select someone from the opposition to become prime minister, a process known as
Cohabitation. President
François Mitterrand, a Socialist, for example was forced to
cohabit with the neo-Gaullist
Jacques Chirac, who became his prime minister for a time in the 1980s.
In the French system, in the event of cohabitation, the President is often allowed to set the policy agenda in foreign affairs and the Prime Minister runs the domestic agenda.
Other countries evolve into something akin to a semi-presidential system or indeed a full presidential system.
Weimar Germany, for example, in its constitution provided for a popularly elected president with theoretically dominant emergency powers that were only intended to be exercised in emergencies and a cabinet appointed by him from the Reichstag which was expected in normal circumstances to be answerable to the Reichstag. Initially the President was merely a symbolic figure with the Reichstag dominant.
However long-term political instability led to a change in the power structure of the Republic, with the President's emergency powers called increasingly into use to prop up governments challenged by critical or even hostile Reichstag votes. By 1932, power had shifted to such an extent that the German President,
Paul von Hindenburg, was able to dismiss a chancellor and select his own person for the job even though the outgoing chancellor possessed the confidence of the Reichstag while the new chancellor did not. Subsequently President von Hindenburg used his power to appoint
Adolf Hitler as Reich chancellor without consulting the Reichstag.
Parliamentary system
In
parliamentary systems the Head of State may be merely the
nominal chief executive officer of the state, possessing theoretical executive power . In reality however, due to a process of constitutional evolution, powers are
usually exercised by a cabinet, presided over by a
prime minister or
President of the Government who is answerable to
parliament. This answerability requires that someone be chosen from parliament who has parliament's support . It also gives parliament the right to vote down the government, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. Governments are thus said to be
responsible to parliament, with the government in turn accepting constitutional responsibility for offering constitutional Advice to the Head of State.
In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a Head of State within a parliamentary system. The older the constitution, the more constitutional leeway may exist for a Head of State to exercise greater powers over government, as many older parliamentary system constitutions in fact give Heads of State powers and functions akin to presidential or semi-presidential systems, in some cases without containing reference to modern democratic principles of accountability to parliament or even to modern governmental offices. For example, the 1848 constitution of the
Kingdom of Italy was sufficiently ambiguous and outdated by the 1920s to give King
Victor Emmanuel III leeway to appoint
Benito Mussolini to power in controversial circumstances.
Some Commonwealth parliamentary systems combine a body of written constitutional law, unwritten constitutional precedent, Orders-in-Council,
letters patent, etc that may give a Head of State or their representative additional powers in unexpected circumstances
Other examples of Heads of State in parliamentary systems using greater powers than normal due either to ambiguous constitutions or unprecedented national emergencies, such as the decision by King
Léopold III of the Belgians to surrender on behalf of his state to the invading German army in 1940, against the will of his government. Judging that his responsibility to the nation by virtue of his coronation oath required him to act, he believed that his government's decision to fight rather than surrender was mistaken and would damage Belgium.
Single party republics
Since real political power belongs to the head of the sole legal party , in certain states under constitutions inspired by the former Soviet Republics there was no formal office of head of state, but rather the head of the legislative 'soviet' branch of power was officially considered the head of state. In the Soviet Union this office had names
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council as well as
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets in case of Soviet Russia .
This may even lead to an institutional variability, as in
North Korea where after the presidency of party leader
Kim Il Sung the office was vacant for years, the late president being granted the posthumous title of president 'in eternity' till it was formally replaced on 5 September 1998 for ceremonial purposes by the office of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, while the party leader's post as Chairman of the National Defense Commission was simultaneously declared "the highest post of the state", not unlike
Deng Xiaoping earlier in the PR of China.
Non-executive Heads of State
A final category of Head of State which could be loosely called the
non-executive Head of State model also exists. Its holders are excluded completely from the executive: they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, within the government. Hence their states' governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model Head of State styles of
His/Her Majesty's Government or
His/Her Excellency's Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist. The King of Sweden, since the passage of the modern Swedish constitution in the mid 1970s, no longer has any of the parliamentary system Head of State functions that had previously belonged to Swedish kings, but still receives formal cabinet briefings monthly in the Royal Palace. In contrast the only contact the Irish president has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the
Taoiseach to the President. However he has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the
Department of An Taoiseach .
Examples of this category, invariably dating from the twentieth century, include:
Complications with categorisation
While clear categories do exist, it is sometimes difficult to choose which category some individual Heads of State belong to. Constitutional change in
Liechtenstein in 2003 gave its Head of State, the Prince, unprecedented constitutional powers including a veto over legislation and power in theory to dismiss the cabinet. It could be argued that the strengthening of the Prince's powers vis-a-vis the legislature has moved Liechtenstein into the
semi-presidential category. Similarly the original powers given to the
Greek President under the 1974 Hellenic Republic constitution made Greece more akin to the French
semi-presidential model. And the theoretical power of the British monarch to dismiss their government at will would suggest that the United Kingdom should belong to the
semi-presidential category also. In reality the category to which each Head of State-ship belongs is assessed not by theory but by practice. In practice no British monarch has forced a government from office since the early nineteenth century, while in reality the Greek Republic, even before the powers of the President of the Republic were curtailed in 1986, operated as a standard parliamentary system. Unless and until a Prince of Liechtenstein exercises the theoretical powers they now possess, the principality would still remain categorised as a
parliamentary system.
Roles of the Head of State
Often depending on which constitutional category a Head of State belongs to, they may have some or all of the roles listed below, and various other ones.
Symbolic role
As the above quote by Charles de Gaulle indicates, one of the most important roles of the modern Head of State is being a living national symbol of the nation.
In many states official
portraits of the Head of State can be found in government offices, courts of law, even airports, libraries, and other public buildings. The idea, sometimes regulated by law, is to use these portraits to make the public aware of the symbolic connection to the government, a practice that dates back to mediaeval times. Sometimes this practice is taken to excess, and the Head of State begins to believe that he is the
only symbol of the nation. A
personality cult thus ensues, where the image of the Head of State is the only visual representation of the country, surpassing other symbols such as the
flag,
constitution, founding fathers, etc. A modern champion in this field was Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Führer; of course such a political technique can also be used by leaders without the formal rank of Head of State, even party - and other revolutionary leaders without formal state mandate. Other common iconic presences, especially of monarchs, are on coins, stamps, banknotes. More discreet variations see them represented by a mention and/or signature. Furthermore all kinds of things are called after Heads of State, e.g. streets and squares, schools, charitable and other organisations; in monarchies there can even be a practice to attribute the adjective 'royal' on demand based on existence for a given number of years.
In general, the active duties amount to a ceremonial role. Thus in diplomatic affairs, Heads of State are often the first person to greet an important foreign visitor. They may also assume a sort of informal "host" role during the VIP's visit, inviting the visitor to a state dinner at his or her mansion or palace, or some other equally hospitable affair.
At home, they are expected to render luster to various occasions by their presence, such as by attending artistic or sports performances or competitions, expositions, celebrations, military parades and remembrances, prominent funerals, visiting parts of the country, enterprises, care facilities , sometimes performing a symbolic act such as cutting a ribbon or pushing a button at an opening, christening something with champagne, laying the first stone, and so on. Some parts of national life receive their regular attention, often on an annual basis, or even in the form of official patronage.
As the potential for such invitations is enormous, such duties are often in part delegated: to such persons as a spouse, other members of the dynasty, or a vice-president, for whom this is often the core of their public role, or in other cases just military or other aid.
For non-executive Heads of State there is often a degree of censorship by the politically responsible government , discreetly approving agenda and speeches, especially where the constitution assumes all political responsibility by granting the crown inviolability as in the kingdom of Belgium from its very beginning; in a Monarchy this may even be extended to some degree to other members of the dynasty, especially the Heir to the throne.
Chief diplomatic officer
- The Head of State accredits his or her country's ambassadors, through sending formal Letters of Credence to other Heads of State. Without that accreditation, an ambassador cannot take up a role and receive the highest diplomatic status. However there are provisions in international law to perform the same diplomatic functions, or at least part of them, such as accrediting with a lower title with the government, or functioning within another mission
- He or she receives Letters of Credence, sent by other Heads of State accrediting their ambassadors or other diplomats to the state.
- He or she signs international treaties on behalf of the state, or has them signed in his/her name by ministers ; subsequent ratification, when necessary, usually rests with the legislature.
Example 1: Article 59 of the
Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany states -
The Federal President shall represent the Federation in its international relations. He shall conclude treaties with foreign states on behalf of the Federation. He shall accredit and receive envoys.Example 2: Section 2, Article 81 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China states -
The President of the People's Republic of China receives foreign diplomatic representatives on behalf of the People's Republic of China and, in pursuance of decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, appoints and recalls plenipotentiary representatives abroad, and ratifies and abrogates treaties and important agreements concluded with foreign states.
Chief executive officer
In the vast majority of states, whether republics or monarchies, executive authority is vested, at least notionally
, in the Head of State. In presidential systems the Head of State is the actual, de facto
chief executive officer. Under parliamentary systems the executive authority is theoretically
exercised by the Head of State but in practice exercised on the advice
of the prime minister or cabinet. This produces such terms as Her Majesty's Government
and His Excellency's Government. Examples of parliamentary systems in which the Head of State is notional chief executive include
Australia,
Austria,
Canada,
Denmark,
France,
Italy and the
United Kingdom. The few exceptions include the
Czech Republic and the
Republic of Ireland, where executive authority is explicitly vested in the cabinet, and
Sweden. The Head of State may also be described as
commander-in-chief of the armed forces, although in parliamentary systems this can be seen as a notional designation only.
Example 1 : Article 2, Section 1 of the
United States Constitution states:
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.Example 2 : Under Chapter II, Section 61 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900:
The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth.Example 3 : According to Section 12 of the
Constitution of Denmark 1953:
Subject to the limitations laid down in this Constitution Act the King shall have the supreme authority in all the affairs of the Realm, and he shall exercise such supreme authority through the Ministers.Example 4 : According to Article 26 of the 1975 Constitution of Greece:
The executive power shall be exercised by the President of the Republic and by the government.Chief appointments officer
- He or she appoints most or all the key officials in the state, including members of the cabinet, the prime minister , key judicial figures and all major office holders. In most parliamentary systems the prime minister is appointed with the consent of the legislature, and other figures are appointed on the prime minister's advice. Some countries have alternative provisions - under Article 4 of the Instrument of Government
...
1974, the constitution of Sweden grants to the parliamentary speaker the role of formally appointing the prime minister. In practice, this decision is often a formality. The last time a
United Kingdom monarch actually had a choice over who to pick to be prime minister occurred in 1963, when Queen
Elizabeth II chose Sir
Alec Douglas-Home to succeed
Harold Macmillan. In presidential systems such as that of the United States, appointments are nominated by the president's sole discretion, and this nomination is often subject to parliamentary confirmation .
- He or she may dismiss office-holders, mainly the same. In parliamentary systems, this is only done on the binding advice of another office-holder; for example, members of the Irish cabinet are dismissed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach . In some instances, the Head of State may be able to dismiss an office holder themselves. Many Heads of State or their representatives have the theoretical power to dismiss any office-holder while it is exceptionally rarely used. Its use is sometimes controversial, such as when the Australian Governor-General dismissed the prime minister during the 1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis. In France, while the president cannot force the prime minister to tender the resignation of his government, he in practice can request it if the prime minister is from his own majority. In presidential systems, the president often has the power to fire ministers at his sole discretion. In the U.S., convention calls for cabinet secretaries to resign on their own initiative when called to do so.
Example 1 : Chapter 4, Section 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states:
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with the consent of the National Assembly.Example 2 : Article 13.1.1 of the
Constitution of Ireland:
The President shall, on the nomination of Dáil Éireann [the lower house], appoint the Taoiseach [prime minister].Legislative roles
Most states require that all bills passed by the house or houses of the legislature be signed into law by the Head of State. In some states, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland, the Head of State is in fact formally considered a tier of parliament. In presidential systems the Head of State often has power to veto a bill. In most parliamentary systems, however, the Head of State cannot refuse to sign a bill, but may, in granting a bill their assent, nevertheless indicate that it was passed in accordance with the correct procedures. The signing of a bill into law is formally known as promulgation. Some
Commonwealth of Nations states call this procedure
Royal Assent.
Example 1 : Article 1, Section 7 of the
United States Constitution states:
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States.Example 2 : Section 11.a.1. of the Basic Laws of Israel states:
The President of the State shall sign every Law, other than a Law relating to its powers.In some parliamentary systems the Head of State retains certain powers, in relation to bills, to be exercised at their discretion. They may have authority to:
- Veto a bill until the houses of the legislature have reconsidered it, and approved it a second time.
- Reserve a bill to be signed later, or suspend it indefinitely .
- Refer a bill to the courts to test its constitutionality
- Refer a bill to the people in a referendum .
If he is also chief executive, he can thus politically control the necessary executive measures without which a proclaimed law can remain dead letter, sometimes for years or even forever.
Supreme commander of the military
- A Head of State is generally the notional or literal commander-in-chief of a state's armed forces, holding the highest office in all military chains of command.
Example: Article II, Section 2 of the
United States Constitution states:
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.- In military dictatorships, or governments which have arisen from coups-de-état, this position is obvious, as all authority in such a government derives from the application of military force; occasionally a power vacuum created by war is filled by a Head of State stepping beyond its normal constitutional role, as King Albert I of the Belgians
...
did during
World War I.
Summoning and dissolving the legislature
- A Head of State is often empowered to summon and dissolve the legislature. In most parliamentary systems, this is done on the advice of the prime minister or cabinet. In some parliamentary systems, and in some presidential systems, the Head of State may do so on their own initiative. Some states, however, have fixed term parliaments, with no option of bringing forward elections . In other systems there are usually fixed terms, but the Head of State retains authority to dissolve the legislature in certain circumstances. Where a prime minister has lost the confidence of parliament, some states allow the Head of State to refuse a parliamentary dissolution, where one is requested, forcing the prime minister's resignation.
Example: Article 13.2.2. of the
Constitution of Ireland states:
The President may in absolute discretion refuse to dissolve Dáil Éireann on the advice of a Taoiseach [prime minister] who has ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil ÉireannOther prerogatives
- Right of pardon
- Granting nobility, knighthood, various honours
Selection and various types and styles of Heads of State
Various Heads of State use a multitude of different styles and titles, often with many variations in content under diverse constitutions, even in a given state. In numerous cases, two or more of the following peculiar types apply, not counting the primary duo monarchy-republic.
In a monarchy, the monarch is the Head of State. This is a relatively recent phenomenon; until the last few decades a sovereign was seen as the personal embodiment of the state, and therefore could not be head of themselves . Though some still maintain that calling a monarch Head of State is incorrect, it has now become a widespread political convention to attach the label to monarchs.
The Emperor of Japan is defined as a symbol, not head, of state by the post-war constitution but is treated as a Head of State under diplomatic protocol.
For the plethora of styles in monarchies, often rendered as King or
Emperor, but also many other, see
Prince, Princely state and
Monarchy.
In a
republic, the Head of State is nowadays usually styled
president, but many have or had other titles and even specific constitutional positions , and some have simply used 'Head of State' as their only formal title.
Legitimacy & Term in office
The position of Head of State can be established in different ways, and based of different legitimations.
- Force is often the true origin of power, but to keep the victor’s right, formal legitimacy must be found, even if by fictitious claim of continuity such as forged descent or legacy from a previous dynasty
- There have also been true cases of granting sovereignty, e.g. dynastic splits ; this is usually forced, such as self-determination granted after nationalist revolts, or the last Attalid king of hellenistic Pergamon by testament leaving his realm to Rome
- Under theocracy, divine status can render earthly authority under divine law, i.e. theoretically unchallengable; on the other hand, it can take the form of supreme divine authority above the state's, giving the priesthood that voices and interpretes it a tool for political influence, control or even dominance ; often there is no clear model, so over time power can be disputed, as between Pope and Emperor in the Investiture conflict, as the temporal power seeks to guarantee its legitimation, including a formal ceremony during the coronation , by controlling key nominations in the clergy
- The notion of a social contract holds that the nation gives a mandate, as through acclamation or election
Individual Heads of State may acquire their position in a number of constitutional ways:
- The position of a Monarch is usually hereditary, but often with constitutional restrictions, or even considerable liberty for the incumbent or some body convening after his demise to chose from eligible members of the ruling house, often limited to legal descendants of the state religion or even parliamentary permission. There are rare exceptions to this, such as the Popes, who nominate the cardinals who elect the next pope in conclave. The Pope is not just the head of the Roman Catholic Church , but is also Head of State of the Vatican City State.
- Election usually is the constitutional way to choose the Head of State of a republic, and some monarchies, either:
- directly: through popular election; this can be made a fiction under the formula of popular acclamation; the electorate can be very selective, such as the patrician families and/or the professional corporations of a city state, or by the warriors in the case of a 'tribal' type war chief or a Roman general proclaimed by his legions.
- indirectly: by members of the legislature or of a special college of electors, either as an expression of general suffrage or an exclusive prerogative .
- a Head of State can be entitled to designate his successor, such as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth Oliver Cromwell
A Head of State may however seize power by force or revolution. This is not to be confused with the notion of an authoritarian or other totalitarian ruler, which rather concerns the oppressive nature of power once acquired, and therefore only applies if he is the true chief executive. Dictators often use democratic titles, though some proclaim themselves monarchs. Examples of the latter include Emperor
Napoleon III of France and King
Zog of Albania.
Francisco Franco, who adopted the formal title
Jefe del Estado, or Chief of State, and established himself as regent for a vacant monarchy.
Idi Amin was one of several who made themselves President for Life.
Another type of extra-constitutional imposition, often also changing the constitution, is by a foreign power , either benign or, more often, rather for its own interest, such as establishing a branch of their own or a friendly dynasty.
Apart from violent ousting, a Head of State's position can also be lost in several ways:
- death , even in case of an unlawful killing
- expiration of the term of office under various constitutions
- abdication, which is legally a voluntary act ; in some cases, an abdication cannot occur unilaterally, but comes into effect only when approved by an act of parliament
- abolition of the post by constitutional change of the institutions or even ending the existence of the state as such
- while generally a Head of State enjoys the widest form of inviolability, in some states the exceptions to this includes impeachment, or a similar constitutional procedure by which the highest legislative and/or judicial authorities are empowered to revoke his mandate on exceptional grounds: this may be a common crime, a political sin, an act by which he violates such provisions as the established religion
- by similar procedure his original mandate may be declared invalid
- a referendum, either provided in the constitution or simply considered the sovereign will of the people
- if the state does not enjoy full and true sovereignty, he may be validly discarded by a protector or suzerain liege
- serious violation of certain fundamental treaty obligations is sometimes considered a valid reason for the relevant international community to depose a Head of State, as the Security Council of the UN or certain alliances may do
- formal declaration of incapacity to rule, usually on such medical grounds as insanity or coma; this may either result in suspension or termination of his mandate
All ways of ending a Head of State's term may carry a risk for the next incumbent, usually by contesting the validity of the procedure, but sometimes even after death in the case of pretenders.
Absent and Substitute Heads of State
Interim
Whenever a Head of State is not available for any reason, constitutional provisions may allow the role to fall temporarily to an assigned person or collective body.
In a monarchy this is usually a regent or collegial regency, in a republic rather a vice-president, the legislature or its presiding officer, the chief of government.
Delegation
In cases where one person is Head of State of multiple sovereign countries, there may be need to appoint a permanent representative in each . Examples are all but one
Commonwealth Realms, where their King or Queen resides in another of the Crown's kingdoms, the
United Kingdom, and so is represented in the others by a
governor-general.
The Governor-General may fulfill many of the roles of a Head of State, but legally is not the Head of State, rather an appointed
representative of the Head of State mandated to act in its place, even when the Monarch is present in the country. Some governors-general are considered
de facto Heads of State because, though not the
de jure Head of State, in practice they function
like a Head of State in most or all jurisdictions.
In diplomatic situations, governors-general, if treated as
de facto Heads of State, are sometimes accorded a status akin to a Head of State, but that is by tradition and on a case by case and person by person basis, not automatic. At state banquets, for example, toasts are made to the Head of State, , never to a governor-general, except in so far as a
personal toast may be proposed subsequently to "Governor-General and Mrs Smith" as hosts of, or guests at, the banquet. Similarly,
Letters of Credence contain the name of the Head of State, not the governor-general, even if it is the latter who signs and receives them.
In 2005,
Canada changed its policy and now all
Letters of Credence are directed to the
Governor General of Canada herself, not
Queen Elizabeth II, making Canada the only country to not expressly issue or receive Letters in the name of its Head of State. Despite the fact that the Governor General of Canada remains the representative of the
Queen of Canada, and appointed by her to that role, and thus is still constitutionally issuing Letters of Credence indirectly on behalf of the Queen of Canada, even if no longer explicitly by name, the Office of the
Prime Minister of Canada stated in its press release announcing the changes to the Letters of Credence and Recall, issued December 29, 2004, that "in international diplomatic practice, Letters of Credence are formal diplomatic instruments that are presented by High Commissioners and Ambassadors to the Head of State of the host country... Letters of Credence and Recall presented by foreign High Commissioners and Ambassadors to Canada will now be addressed to the Governor General directly." This wording implies that the government of Canada, as least during Prime Minister
Paul Martin's tenure, regarded the Governor General as the Canadian Head of State.
Similarly, a 2004 report issued by the Canadian Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates recognised that the nation is a constitutional monarchy, however described the 1947
Letters Patent as having devolved all powers of the Sovereign to the Governor General, making the latter Head of State, and then continued to refer to the Governor General as Head of State throughout the report. That same year, the then Governor General,
Adrienne Clarkson, attended a ceremony in
France to recognize Canada's involvement at
Juno Beach in the
D-Day landings of 1944. Her office stated that she was present as Canada's Head of State, and thus the Governor General was treated as the senior official in attendance, over even the Queen who was also present at the ceremony. While laying wreaths, the ceremony commentator stated that the Governor General was laying a wreath on behalf of Canada, whereas the Queen was laying a wreath on behalf of the
Commonwealth.
Rideau Hall later retracted the assertion that the Governor General attended as Head of State, saying that it was an error of a junior official, but this did not explain the unusual shift in protocol observed at the ceremony itself.
In opposition to this thinking, in the opening of his first speech in the Canadian House of Commons, Harper stated: "I'd like to acknowledge and thank a number of people. First of all I'd would like to pay tribute to our head of state, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II." As well, the Governor General of Canada's website now refers to the
Queen of Canada as Canada's Head of State. However, the Canadian Letters of Creedence and Recall continue to be issued in the name of, and addressed to the Governor General alone.
The question of whether the Sovereign or the Governor General is Head of State has also arisen in Australia, where some, especially amongst those on the monarchist side of the republic debate, and most notably Professor David Flint, National Convenor of
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, and Sir David Smith in his book
Head of State: the Governor-General, the Monarchy, the Republic and the Dismissal, have stated that the Governor General is Head of State. Most others regard the
Queen of Australia as the Australian Head of State.
As a colony or other dependent state or territory lacks the authority to vest in a true Head of State of its own, it either has no comparable office, simply receiving those roles exercised by the paramount powers or has one, such as a formerly sovereign dynasty, but under a form of metropolitan guardianship, such as protection, vassal or tributary status.
Extraordinary arrangements
In exceptional situations, such as war, occupation, revolution or a
coup d'état, constitutional institutions, including the symbolically crucial Head of State, may be reduced to a lesser role or be suspended in favor of an emergency office or eliminated by of new 'provisionary' regime , often a collective of the junta type, with endlessly varying names and composition, or simply find itself under military authority as imposed by an occupying force, such as a military governor
Theocratic, Ecclesiocratic and other 'pious' Heads of State
Since Antiquity, various dynasties -or individual rulers- claimed to have received to right to rule by divine ancestry. Thus both the Egyptian Pharaoh and the Great Inca both were descended from their respective sun gods, and often maintained this legitimating bloodline by marriages with their own sisters.
In Christianity :
- The Pope as Sovereign Pontiff, first of the politically important Papal States, after the Italian reunification ultimately just over Vatican City
- various lower clerics qualified as prince of the church ; one case of a grand master of a sovereign order remains, but it has been vested ex officio in the pope
- In the Church of England the reigning monarch also holds the title defender of the faith and acts as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, but that is pure caesaropapism : the state commands the church, which has no power over the state.
- The ancient monastic state known as
