Editing Direct election (section)

== History of direct presidential elections ==
The idea that heads of state be elected directly by the people progressed slowly throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Blais |first1=André |last2=Massicotte |first2=Louis |last3=Dobrzynska |first3=Agnieszka |date=1997-12-01 |title=Direct presidential elections: a world summary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379497000206 |journal=Electoral Studies |language=en |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=441–455 |doi=10.1016/S0261-3794(97)00020-6 |issn=0261-3794|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This differs from parliamentary systems where executives derive power from the legislative body.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Badie |first1=Bertrand |title=Parliamentary Systems |date=2011 |url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/intlpoliticalscience/n408.xml |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of Political Science |pages=1767–1771 |access-date=2023-03-13 |place=Thousand Oaks |publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc. |last2=Berg-Schlosser |first2=Dirk |last3=Morlino |first3=Leonardo|doi=10.4135/9781412994163 |isbn=9781412959636 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Africa ===
Many African nations have moved from parliamentary to presidential systems. Regardless of constitutional structures, presidents often have immense power over other political decision-making bodies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van de Walle |first=Nicolas |date=2003 |title=Presidentialism and clientelism in Africa's emerging party systems |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022278X03004269/type/journal_article |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |language=en |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=297–321 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X03004269 |issn=0022-278X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Given this power, much of the political violence around elections stems from the elections of presidents.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adjudication of Disputed Presidential Elections in Africa |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/40002/chapter-abstract/340338022?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=academic.oup.com | year=2021 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780192894779.003.0014 | last1=Kaaba | first1=O'Brien | last2=Fombad | first2=Charles M. | pages=361–400 | isbn=978-0-19-289477-9 }}</ref> Additionally, recent coups and conflict have postponed direct presidential elections in several African countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Africa's Complex 2022 Elections |url=https://africacenter.org/spotlight/elections-2022/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=Africa Center for Strategic Studies |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Asia ===
The overwhelming majority of democracies in Asia are parliamentary, rather than presidential systems. Based on constitutional design, the Philippines is the only head of state elected by popular vote.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/223396951 |title=Electoral politics in Southeast & East Asia |date=2002 |publisher=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung |first=Gabriele |last=Bruns |first2=Aurel |last2=Croissant |first3=Marei |last3=John |isbn=981-04-6020-1 |location=Singapore |oclc=223396951}}</ref> South Korea has an even stronger presidential system as well a directly-elected head of state based on changes in 1987 to its constitution.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-19 |title=The Weakness of the Strongest Institution: South Korea's Presidential System |url=https://thegeopolitics.com/the-weakness-of-the-strongest-institution-south-koreas-presidential-system/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=The Geopolitics |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
The first major European country to use direct elections was France (1848). However, if no candidate received a majority of the vote the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] chose the winner from the top five candidates. As the so-called [[French Second Republic|Second Republic]] only lasted for one presidential term, this never happened.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Blais |first1=André |last2=Massicotte |first2=Louis |last3=Dobrzynska |first3=Agnieszka |date=1997-12-01 |title=Direct presidential elections: a world summary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379497000206 |journal=Electoral Studies |language=en |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=441–455 |doi=10.1016/S0261-3794(97)00020-6 |issn=0261-3794|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Germany (the [[Weimar Republic]]) was the first European country to use direct election of a president without intervention by the legislature.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bartsch |first=Kolja |title=German Bundestag - The Weimar Republic (1918 - 1933) |url=https://www.bundestag.de/en/parliament/history/parliamentarism/weimar/weimar-200326 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=German Bundestag |language=en}}</ref> Both these systems were replaced by autocratic systems within a number of years, with indirect presidential elections instated with the restoration of democracy (in 1871 and 1949, in [[West Germany]], respectively). Currently, Europe has a mix of [[parliamentary republic]]s, [[Presidential system|presidential republics]], where the president is elected directly by the people, and [[semi-presidential republic]]s - including contemporary France - which have a president elected directly and a prime minister responsible to the parliament.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 13, 2023 |title=Europe: Fact Sheet on Parliamentary and Presidential Elections |url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46858 |website=Congressional Research Service}}</ref>

==== Colonial legacies ====
A major debate exists regarding colonial legacies and the promotion of democracy around the world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Alexander |last2=Paine |first2=Jack |date=2019-09-01 |title=British colonialism and democracy: Divergent inheritances and diminishing legacies |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596718302142 |journal=Journal of Comparative Economics |language=en |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=487–503 |doi=10.1016/j.jce.2019.02.001 |s2cid=159451218 |issn=0147-5967|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In terms of direct elections, former British colonies are less likely to hold direct elections for heads of state. Additionally no monarchies have direct elections for head of state since by definition the head of state is unelected.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Blais |first1=André |last2=Massicotte |first2=Louis |last3=Dobrzynska |first3=Agnieszka |date=1997-12-01 |title=Direct presidential elections: a world summary |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379497000206 |journal=Electoral Studies |language=en |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=441–455 |doi=10.1016/S0261-3794(97)00020-6 |issn=0261-3794|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== North America ===
==== United States ====
The conceptual origins of direct presidential elections stem from the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]] (1787) through the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]]. The [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Framers]] intended for a small group of electors, through methods determined by each state, to elect the president. Thus in practice this represents a form of indirect election.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interpretation: Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3 {{!}} Constitution Center |url=https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-ii/clauses/350 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== South America ===
Bolstered by opposition groups, institutional and constitutional change in the 1980s and 1990s led to direct elections of presidents in many South American countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hakim |first1=Peter |last2=Lowenthal |first2=Abraham F |date=1991 |title=Latin America's Fragile Democracies |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/journal_of_democracy/v002/2.3hakim.pdf |journal=Journal of Democracy |language=en |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=16–29 |doi=10.1353/jod.1991.0042 |s2cid=154861342 |issn=1086-3214}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barczak |first=Monica |date=2001 |title=Representation By Consultation? The Rise of Direct Democracy in Latin America |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1531426X00003393/type/journal_article |journal=Latin American Politics and Society |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=37–59 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-2456.2001.tb00178.x |s2cid=155019931 |issn=1531-426X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These changes created centralized power in presidential positions, often blurring the line of separation of powers and making them powerful decision-makers over the legislature and cabinet.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Palanza |first=Valeria |date=2021-01-22 |title=The Presidency in Latin American Politics |url=https://oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1674 |access-date=2023-03-13 |journal=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1674|isbn=978-0-19-022863-7 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mainwaring |first=Scott |date=1990 |title=Presidentialism in Latin America |journal=Latin American Research Review |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=157–179 |doi=10.1017/S0023879100023256 |jstor=2503565 |s2cid=252947271 |issn=0023-8791|doi-access=free }}</ref>