Selection and Various Types and Styles of Heads of State
Various heads of state use a multitude of different styles and titles, often with many variations in content under diverse constitutions, even in a given state. In numerous cases, two or more of the following peculiar types apply, not counting the primary duo monarchy-republic. Although many constitutions (single or multiple documents), particularly from the 19th century and earlier make no explicit mention of a head of state in the generic sense of several contemporary international treaties, the officeholders corresponding to this position are recognized as such by other countries.
In a monarchy, the Monarch is generally understood to be the obvious head of state. Niccolò Machiavelli used Prince (Italian: Principe) as a generic term for the ruler, similar to contemporary usage of "head of state", in his classical treatise The Prince, originally published in 1532: in fact that particular literary genre it belongs to is known as Mirrors for princes. Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan used the term Sovereign. In Europe the role of a monarchs has gradually transitioned from that of a sovereign ruler — in the sense of Divine Right of Kings as articulated by Jean Bodin, Absolutism and the "L'etat c'est moi" — to that of a constitutional monarch; parallel with the conceptual evolution of sovereignty from merely the personal rule of a single person, to Westphalian sovereignty (Peace of Westphalia ending both the Thirty Years' War & Eighty Years' War) and popular sovereignty as in consent of the governed; as shown in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England & Scotland, the French Revolution in 1789, and the German Revolution of 1918–1919. The monarchies who survived through this era were the ones who were willing to subject themselves to constitutional limitations. Titles commonly used by monarchs are King/Queen or Emperor/Empress, but also many other; e.g. Grand Duke, Prince, Emir and Sultan.
In a republic, the head of state nowadays usually bears the title of President, and usually their permanent constitutions provide for election, but many have or had other titles and even specific constitutional positions and some have used simply "head of state" as their only formal title.
There are also several methods of head of state succession in the event of the removal, disability or death of an incumbent head of state.
Read more about this topic: Head Of State
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