A kingdom is a form of government.
Lots of governments don't have a President as head of state. A lot of countries with Presidents could operate the government without a President as the true political power is held by a different official with some form of elected mandate.
The United States Federal Government absolutely needs a President to function as the President is the head of government and all governments generally a head of government to function.
No one really knows what would happen if a President isn't elected by the start of their term. Likely, the Speaker of the House would become President as they would be the first official in line for the President who held office. If the election is that far up in the airb that the executive and legislative branches aren't functioning, it could potentially go to the head of the Supreme Court, but that isn't a law.
President is the head of government
The president is the head of one of three branches of the government.
Head of Government is an established role in diplomatic speak that can be used across various types of governments to describe the person in control of what the USA would selfdescribe as the Executive Branch, but basically a government's administration. In parliamentary systems, this role is usually held by the Prime Minister or equivalent.
This is a different role from Head of State, which is typically seen as the public persona of the state in diplomacy.
Some political systems, like the USA's, combine the roles while others, like UK and China, keep them separate.
Love this question. Yes, and not only is it possible, I believe some implementations would be highly preferable. I have come to believe that the presidency concentrates far too much power in a single person and should be eliminated.
No, council governments already exist so I cant imagine a reason that couldnt apply to leading the federal govt as well.
Theoretically you could also have fully Democratic processes where the President is replaced with a national voting system and every bill that would normally hit the presidents desk is voted on by the populace instead. Would have to implement National ID cards to have verified electronic voting.
Additionally, sortition exists and IIRC is what the Roman Senate used before the triumvirate came into power. Basically, citizens were chosen at random to act as representatives for their congressional happenings instead of elected officials. Not sure if that would apply to a Presidential role, really, but kinda ties back to the Council idea above.
While we're on the subject, I like Katt Williams' implied perspective on presidents. We just keep jumping from president to president without ever working on ourselves. Maybe we need some time without a president so we can take some inward perspective and make adjustments before taking on another president.
Certainly not. The duties of the president of the USA are:
- Execute/enforce the laws made by congress
- Command the military
- Grant pardons
- Make treaties
- Appoint ambassadors, judges, and officers
- Report to congress about the state of the country
It's not necessary that any one of those functions be the responsibility of a single person, nor is it necessary that any one of them be performed by the same person or group as any of the others. Some of these functions may not even need to exist as such; I don't think pardons are a feature of all systems of justice, and a legislative branch has other ways to learn about the state of the country.
Switzerland works just fine, and the head of the Executive is a committee.
