Title of authority
Encyclopedia
Title of authority, title of office or title of command is the official designation of a position held in an organization (e.g. in government
or corporation
) associated with certain duties of authority.
Semi-formally, the title of office may be referred to as "position", or "office", as, e.g., in the expression "the office of vice president
".
When used in conjunction with proper name
s, titles of office are capitalized (and usually not otherwise): The Right Honourable
Stephen Harper
, Prime Minister
of Canada
. In this example both "The Right Honourable" and "Prime Minister" may be called "title of office". The former one is also referred to as "style"
(manner of address), the latter one is the designation of a position.
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
or corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
) associated with certain duties of authority.
Semi-formally, the title of office may be referred to as "position", or "office", as, e.g., in the expression "the office of vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
".
When used in conjunction with proper name
Proper name
"A proper name [is] a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about" writes John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic , "but not of telling anything about it"...
s, titles of office are capitalized (and usually not otherwise): The Right Honourable
The Right Honourable
The Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
, Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In this example both "The Right Honourable" and "Prime Minister" may be called "title of office". The former one is also referred to as "style"
Style (manner of address)
A style of office, or honorific, is a legal, official, or recognized title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office, and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal...
(manner of address), the latter one is the designation of a position.