Elected Leaders in AP World History

Elected Leaders Overview

Types of Electors Leaders

    President, Presidente, or Madame President

    Prime Minister or Chancellor  ​​

Another common form of government is rule by a elected leader.  An elected leader is chosen by at least some of the people who live in a particular country.  Most countries who use elections do so because they believe a just government rules with the agreement of it's people or their representatives.  

At the same time, most countries limit who can vote in elections.  It is rarely the case that everyone who lives in a place is eligible to vote.

• Countries often restrict voting to only citizens of the country.  
• Countries may exclude people from voting based on certain characteristics.  In the United States, women, Black people (free and enslaved), and Native Americans were legally prevented from voting. 

Many countries have multiple elections, and therefore elect multiple leaders.  These leaders run different parts of the country's government.  These parts are often called branches.  In this article, we're going to focus on the election of the head of the executive branch of a country's government.  This person is responsible for carrying out laws and ensuring the country functions.  In most countries, the head of the executive branch oversees that country's bureaucracy.

This system of government is heavily influenced by the Enlightenment.  This is an important historical development covered in AP World History classes.  As a result of this movement, many governments in Europe and the Americas switched to electing leaders.  They also adopted other Enlightenment ideas, like protecting individual rights, separating the branches of the government, and writing constitutions to set clear limits on the government's power.

Lastly, this may be the messiest of all our categories.  There are a LOT of different ways for a country to elect leaders and divide up political power.  Some monarchs, religious leaders, and military leaders are elected.  There are many exceptions to these general principles.  The point here is not to hammer all the details.  Rather, this is an attempt sort out the broad points so you can understand what's happening in history.  ​​

Presidents lead countries with presidential systems.  Admittedly, the name is not very creative.

A presidential system is a type of government with a few important characteristics.

• The president is the head of the executive branch.  A separate branch (legislative) makes the law.  Those laws are then carried about by the executive branch, which includes the military, diplomats, and the bureaucracy.
• The people vote directly or indirectly for the president.  Their name will appear on a ballot, and eligible voters can choose it.
• The president is typically the head of state.  This mean they symbolically represent the entire country.

Another common form of government is a parliamentary system.  These systems typically have a person whose title is prime minister.  In some countries, this person has a slightly different title.  Chancellor is an example of an alternative title for a prime minister.  Like a president, the prime minister leads the executive branch and helps carry out the laws passed by the legislature.

Parliamentary systems differ from presidential systems in several ways.  Here are the highlights.

• The people do NOT vote directly for a prime minister.  Instead, they elect representatives to the legislature.  The prime minister is chosen from among the people elected to the legislature.  This means that the leader of the executive branch is also part of the legislative branch.
• In some countries, the prime minister is determined by a vote.  All of the people in the legislature get to vote on the prime minister.  In other countries, the people elect a president.  This president chooses the prime minister.  The president often picks the leader of the political party with the most people in the legislature.
• The prime minister is most accountable to the legislature, not the people directly.  Legislators often have the ability to replace the prime minister.
• The prime minister is usually NOT the head of state.  The prime minister runs the government, but they aren't seen as a symbol of the country as a whole.  Often, a monarch or the president is the head of state.  The head of state in a parliamentary system usually doesn't have significant formal power.  Instead, their role is symbolic or they may have informal power.

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