A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It is an alternative term for prime minister, premier, chief minister, or

first minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

and very similar to the title of president of the council of ministers.

Terminology

In English-speaking countries, similar institutions may be called premiers or first ministers (typically at the subnational level) or prime ministers (typically at the national level). The plural is sometimes formed by adding an ''s'' to ''minister'' and sometimes by adding an ''s'' to ''president''. The term is used, for instance, as a translation (

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language w ...

) of the German word ''Ministerpräsident''.

Austria

From 1867 to 1918, the first minister of the government was known as ''Ministerpräsident'' (minister-president), before that '' Staatskanzler'' (state chancellor). Today the head of the

Austrian Federal Government The Government of Austria (german: Bundesregierung der Republik Österreich) is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It consists of the chancellor, who is the head of government, the vice chancellor and the ministers. Appoint ...

is called the ''Bundeskanzler'' (federal chancellor), while the head of a state government is called the '' Landeshauptmann'' (literally "state captain"), not ''Ministerpräsident''. In the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of Vienna the head of the state government is called the ''Bürgermeister und Landeshauptmann'' (Mayor and state captain). See: List of ministers-president of Austria.

Belgium

The term minister-president ( Dutch: ''minister-president'',

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''ministre-président'',

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Ministerpräsident'') is also used in Belgium to describe the head of government of a Belgian region or linguistic community, but not the head of the

Belgian federal government The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...

who is referred to as the prime minister (Dutch: ''eerste minister'', French: ''premier ministre'', German: ''Premierminister''). According to the Belgian constitution, the federal prime minister is appointed by the king, and approved by the federal parliament with a vote of confidence (in practice the king usually appoints the leader of the winning party as ''"formateur"'' to form a government). The federal ministers later swear an oath of allegiance to the king. The ministers-president of the regions and linguistic communities are not appointed by the king, but are directly appointed by their respective parliament. Ministers of the regions and linguistic communities are not required to swear allegiance to the king but simply take an oath in their respective parliament. See: *

Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region The Minister-President of the Brussels Capital-Region (french: Ministre-président de la région de Bruxelles-Capitale, nl, Minister-president van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest) is the person leading the Government of the Brussels-Capital R ...

* Minister-President of Flanders * Minister-President of the French Community *

Minister-President of Wallonia The minister-president of Wallonia () is the head of the Government of Wallonia, the executive power of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. The official residence, known as the Élysette, is in Namur, along the Meuse River. The minist ...

* Minister-President of the German-speaking Community

Germany

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

(''Ministerpräsident'') is the head of government in 13 of the 16 States of Germany. Exceptions are the

city-states A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen, where the head of government is called, respectively, the Governing Mayor (''Regierender Bürgermeister''), First Mayor (''Erster Bürgermeister'') and Mayor and President of the Senate (''Bürgermeister und Präsident des Senates''). On the federal level, the head of the federal government (with an effectively identical function as leader of the cabinet) is called the Chancellor or Federal

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

(''Kanzler'' or ''Bundeskanzler''). The positions of Minister-president in the German states (during the monarchy days) were mostly established in response to the 1848 German revolutions. The

Minister-President of Prussia The office of Minister-President (german: Ministerpräsident), or Prime Minister, of Prussia existed from 1848, when it was formed by King Frederick William IV during the 1848–49 Revolution, until the abolition of Prussia in 1947 by the Alli ...

usually served simultaneously as the Imperial Chancellor.

Hungary

The title of Hungary's head of government in Hungarian is ''miniszterelnök'' which literally translated means "minister-president". However, because "prime minister" or "premier" is the more usual title in a parliamentary system for a head of government in English-speaking nations, "miniszterelnök" is almost always translated as "prime minister."

Latvia

The Minister president is the head of government. "Minister-President" in the

Constitution of Latvia The Constitution of Latvia ( lv, Satversme) is the fundamental law of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. Satversme is the oldest Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern or Central European constitution still in force and the sixth oldest still-funct ...

of February 15, 1922, arose when the German term ''Ministerpräsident'' (minister-president) was translated; the term ''ministru prezidents'' (in Latvian) was coined by the member of the

Constitutional Assembly of Latvia The Constitutional Assembly of Latvia ( lv, Satversmes sapulce) was independent Latvia's first elected legislative body. Its main task was creating the constitution of Latvia, the Satversme, which is still in effect to this day. The Speaker of A ...

, Latvian writer Kārlis Skalbe.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands the prime minister is officially referred to as "minister-president", although the informal term "premier" is also frequently used. His responsibilities are defined in the constitution of 1848 as the "voorzitter van de ministerraad" (chair of the council of ministers). The title of minister-president has been in use since 1945 and officially added to the constitution in 1983.

Norway

In Norway, Vidkun Quisling, head of the collaborationist government from 1942 to 1945 during the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

in World War II, held the title of Minister-President (in Norwegian, ''ministerpresident'').

Russian Republic

During the short lived Russian Republic, the role of a Minister-President was established.

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early Novem ...

was chosen to lead the provisional government.

Notes

{{Types of heads of government Gubernatorial titles Heads of government Positions of subnational authority Titles of national or ethnic leadership Ministers-President of communities and regions of Belgium