President

This article refers to the term President as it relates to Nationstates. For more general information, please see the Wikipedia article on the subject. Parts of this article are taken from Wikipedia under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"; giving the term Praeses). Originally, the term referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or meeting (i.e. chairman); but today it most commonly refers to an official with executive powers.

President is a common title among the Heads of State of republics. It is also often adopted by dictators althogh they are just as likely to invent a monarchical title for themselves. The term is also used for some Heads of Government who are not heads of state. However, such leaders are normally considered the president of a specific deliberative body rather than of the nation.

Modern history of the designation

As an English word, president originally referred to the presiding officer of a committee or other public body. A president could lead a committee, a board, a church, a college or university or any kind of council. Over time, this term expanded to include ever greater positions of responsibility.

President has been a commonly adopted term for the Head of State of a republic. In republics where the political executive is not included in the legislature, the president often acts as both a Head of State and Head of Government. The Heads of State of Allanea, the Confederation of Sovereign States, Upper Virginia and many other republican politities are styled as presidents.

Presidents in democratic countries and international organizations

Many nations and international organizations throughout the world style their Chief of State as a president. Among other nations and among many international organizations, certain leaders are presidents of specific councils or bodies although not of the entire nation or organization.