A directorial system is a regime ruled by a college of several people who jointly exercise the powers of a

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and/or a

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Current directorial systems

Countries with directorial

heads of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

sharing ceremonial functions: * : co-princes * :

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

* :

Ngwenyama iNgwenyama (, pl. ''tiNgewnyama'', also ''Ingwenyama'' or ''Inkosi'') is the title of the male List of monarchs of Eswatini, monarch of Eswatini. In English, the title is sometimes translated as King of Eswatini. The iNgwenyama reigns together ...

and

Ndlovukati Ndlovukati (, pl. ''tiNdlovukati''; also spelled Indlovukazi) is the siSwati language, siSwati title for the female monarch of Eswatini. The title is given preferentially to the mother of the reigning List of Kings of Swaziland, king (styled the ...

* :

Captains Regent Captains Regent (; ) are the two Head of state, heads of state of the San Marino, Republic of San Marino. They are elected every six months by the Grand and General Council, the country's Legislature, legislative body. Normally the Regents are c ...

Countries governed by a directorial system: * : co-presidents * : Congress of State * : Federal Council Supranational and subnational entities governed by a directorial system: * :

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

and

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

* : First Minister and deputy First Minister * :

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

Directorial republic in Switzerland

One country now using this form of government is

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and to a lesser extent

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

, where directories rule all levels of administration, federal,

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

and municipal. On the face of it, the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...

might appear to be a typical parliamentary government; technically, however, it is not a meeting of ministers, but a college of heads of state and simultaneously the federal cabinet. The current president of the confederation is in fact only a ''

primus inter pares is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...

'' (first among equals) with representative functions in particular for diplomacy with other States, without any power either of direction or of coordination of the activity of colleagues. The

is elected by the Federal Assembly for four years, and is composed of seven members, among whom one is president and one is vice-president on a rotating basis, although these positions are symbolic in normal circumstances. The link between the Swiss managerial system and the presidential system is even more evident for the cantonal governments, where currently all directors are all individually directly elected by the voters.

History

In political history, the term directory, in French ', is applied to high collegial institutions of state composed of members styled director. Early directorial systems were the Ambrosian Republic (1447-1450), the

Bohemian Revolt The Bohemian Revolt (; ; 1618–1620) was an uprising of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemian Estates of the realm, estates against the rule of the Habsburg dynasty that began the Thirty Years' War. It was caused by both religious and power dispu ...

(1618–1620), New England Confederation (1643–1686), partially in

First Stadtholderless Period The First Stadtholderless Period (1650–72; ) was the period in the history of the Dutch Republic in which the office of Stadtholder was vacant in five of the seven Dutch provinces (the provinces of Friesland and Groningen (province), Groningen, ...

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

(1650–1672),

Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 (ratified September 28, 1776) was the state's first constitution following its declaration of independence and has been described as the most democratic in America. It was drafted by Robert Whitehill, Timot ...

and the Directory of 1795–1799 in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The French Directory was inspired by the

, which prominently featured a collegial 12-member Supreme Executive Council with the president in fact only ''

'' (first among equals). Variants of this form of government, based on the French model, were also established in the European regions conquered by France during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. Directorial systems have a lower presidentialism metric value compared to presidential systems due to lower concentration of political power in the hands of one individual.

Military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

s differ from the directorial system by not being elected. Utilizing

sortition In governance, sortition is the selection of public officer, officials or jurors at random, i.e. by Lottery (probability), lottery, in order to obtain a representative sample. In ancient Athenian democracy, sortition was the traditional and pr ...

to select multiple executives can lead to a directorial system.

Former directorial systems

In the past, countries with elected directories include: *

from 1618 to 1620 * New England Confederation from 1643 to 1686 *

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

from 1649 to 1653 *

partially in

from 1650 to 1672 * -

Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was the collective directorial system, directorial executive branch of the Pennsylvanian state government between 1777 and 1790. It was headed by a president and a vice president ...

from 1777 to 1790 * -

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...

from 1795 to 1799 *

Cisalpine Republic The Cisalpine Republic (; ) was a sister republic or a client state of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802. Creation After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organized two ...

from 1795 to 1799 * Cispadane Republic from 1796 to 1797 * Roman Republic (1798–1799) from 1798 to 1799 * Parthenopaean Republic in 1799 * - The Town's Legates Junta and High Government Junta from 1821 to 1823 *

Roman Republic (1849) The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of classical Roman civilisation beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire following the War ...

from 1849 to 1850 (

Triumvirate A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...

) * -

Directorate of Ukraine The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on 13–14 November 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against th ...

from 1918 to 1920 * -

Nationalist Government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

- from 1928 to 1947 * -

National Council of Administration The National Council of Administration () was part of the executive power in Uruguay between 1919 and 1933, ruling alongside the President of Uruguay, President of the Republic.

from 1919 to 1933 and National Council of Government from 1952 to 1967 * - State Council of East Germany from 1960 to 1990 * -

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

from 1938 to 1989 * - State Council of the Polish People's Republic from 1952 to 1989

References

{{Authority control Collective heads of state Power sharing Separation of powers Types of democracy Types of republics

Current directorial systems

Directorial republic in Switzerland

History

Former directorial systems

See also

References