Editing Head of state (section)

{{Short description|Public persona of a sovereign state}}
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{{Distinguish|Head of government}}
{{About|the type of political position|other uses|Head of state (disambiguation)}}
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A '''head of state''' is the public [[persona]] of a [[sovereign state]].<ref name="Foakes2014">[[#Foakes|Foakes]], pp. 110–11 "[The head of state] being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona."</ref> The name given to the office of head of state depends on the country's form of [[government]] and any [[separation of powers]]; the powers of the office in each country range from being also the [[head of government]] to being little more than a [[ceremonial]] [[figurehead]].

In a [[parliamentary system]], such as [[Politics of India|India]] or the [[Politics of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], the head of state usually has mostly ceremonial powers, with a separate head of government.<ref>[[#Foakes|Foakes]], p. 62</ref> However, in some parliamentary systems, like [[Politics of South Africa|South Africa]], there is an executive president that is both head of state and head of government. Likewise, in some parliamentary systems the head of state is not the head of government, but still has significant powers, for example [[Politics of Morocco|Morocco]]. In contrast, a [[semi-presidential system]], such as [[Politics of France|France]], has both heads of state and government as the ''de facto'' leaders of the nation (in practice they divide the leadership of the nation between themselves).

Meanwhile, in [[presidential systems]], the head of state is also the head of government.<ref name="Foakes2014" /> In [[One-party state|one-party]] ruling [[communist state]]s, the position of president has no tangible powers by itself; however, since such a head of state, as a matter of custom, simultaneously holds the post of [[General Secretary of the Communist Party]], they are the executive leader with their powers deriving from their status of being the [[party leader]], rather than the office of president.

Former French president [[Charles de Gaulle]], while developing the current [[Constitution of France]] (1958), said that the head of state should embody ''{{lang|fr|l'esprit de la nation}}'' ("the spirit of the nation").<ref name="Kubicek2015">{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Kubicek|title=European Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9uoCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-34853-5|pages=154–56, 163}}</ref>