Head of the government

The head of government is the chief executive of the executive branch, often standing at the head of the cabinet . In the parliamentary system of power, the head of government is often called the prime minister , chairman of the government , etc. In presidential republics or monarchies, the head of government can be the head of state , who is often called, respectively, the president or monarch .

This article describes cases when the head of government is not the head of state .

The current record of the long-term work of the head of government in a democratic state was set by Tage Erlander (Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969 , for a total of 23 years without a break). He won all eight elections and resigned due to age.

Among all the heads of government, the record for the duration of continuous rule belongs to the current Prime Minister of Bahrain Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa , who led the government from 1970 to the present.

In semi-presidential systems, the head of government can be both the head of state and the representative of the legislature (e.g. parliament ). An example is the Fifth Republic of France (since 1958 ), where the Président de la République (from the French - “President of the Republic”) appoints the Prime Minister, but must choose someone who can carry out government orders and have the support of the national assembly . If the opposition controls the National Assembly (and, consequently, the financing of parliament and most of the legislative acts), then the president, in fact, is forced to choose the prime minister from the opposition; in such cases, known as cohabitation , the government controls domestic politics, while the president is forced to limit himself to foreign policy and the executive branch.