# What is a "Head of State"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189 "2003-05-09T20:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189/21 "2003-05-13T23:41:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grey \* > \*\*And **Dogface** I understood that the president was not the leader of the US government. Is it thought of that way? \*\* That depends upon how one defines “government”. In non-US usage, the President would fulfill all functions of a “head of government”. Cabinet Secretaries report to him. He is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. The daily business of administering the government falls under his office or under the cabinet offices and departments that are under him. In the US use of “government”, the USA has no “head of government” at all. In the USA, when we refer to the “government”, we usually refer to both the Congress and the Presidency. If speaking. Sometimes we remember that the Federal courts are the “third branch” of our government, but we tend to ignore them since they are appointed. So, under the US usage, the President, the Speaker of the House, the Vice President (as President of the Senate), and the Supreme Court of the United States (as a body) are the “head” of our government. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189/22 "2003-05-13T23:46:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boris B \* > \*\* if you could imagine those protesters with a beaming picture of the head of state on their wall next to an old carboard sign saying “The prime minister is a fink!” maybe their marches wouldn’t make their opponents imagine a coup d’etat around every corner. > > \*\* I must take issue with this blatant lie regarding the USA. Believe it or not, the press’s portrayal of conditions here is not necessarily the truth. Nobody ever even remotely was induced by seeing anti-Bush protests to believe that there would be any attempt at a coup in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189/23 "2003-05-13T23:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by brianmelendez \* > \*\* > First, the head of state is primaily concerned with the nation as a member of the international community–exercising what Locke called the “federative” power_\* So, then Queen Elizabeth II is free to set whatever treaties may strike her fancy when she operates as “head of state”. Likewise, she is free to set relationships among members of the Commonwealth as suit her fancy, since she is “head of state” of all those countries. ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189/24 "2003-05-14T00:11:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*So, then Queen Elizabeth II is free to set whatever treaties may strike her fancy when she operates as “head of state”. Likewise, she is free to set relationships among members of the Commonwealth as suit her fancy, since she is “head of state” of all those countries. \*\* Of course not. Don’t be silly. A constitutional monarch never exercises her or his powers in the monarch’s own personal, unfettered discretion. But the nation’s role in the international community is exercised in the monarch’s name, regardless of what role the monarch played (or not) in the internal constitution that resulted in deciding that role. For example, look at the [treaty](http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/treaties/dat/C_2002325EN.000501.html) establishing the European Union: > [@](#): > > HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC, HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF LUXEMBOURG, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, > > . . . . > > RESOLVED to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, > > IN VIEW of further steps to be taken in order to advance European integration, > > HAVE DECIDED to establish a European Union and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries: > > (List of plenipotentiaries not reproduced) > > WHO, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows. You would think, from the treaty, that the European Union was just something that a dozen individuals agreed to. But those dozen individuals are not acting in their personal capacities, they are acting as heads of state, subject to whatever institutional and political constraints their constitutions and cultures impose. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189/25 "2003-05-14T00:23:28Z")
> [@](#): > > But, when circumstances arise that were not forseen by the people who framed the unwritten constitution, for example when it becomes unclear who is or ought to be Prime Minister, the written constitution comes into play, and the Governor-General steps in to resolve the constitutional crisis. All of this confusion makes me glad the United States Constitution is written down. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189/26 "2003-05-14T00:25:28Z")
I think this one is pretty much exhausted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-head-of-state/174189.md?page=1)