Editing Prefect (section)

=={{anchor|Modern sub-national administration}}Modern sub-national administration==
*In '''[[Albania]]''' a prefect (''Prefekti'') is the State's representative in a region (''qark''). His agency is called the ''Prefektura''. Albania has 12 prefects in 12 prefectures, appointed by the [[Prime Minister of Albania]] and the [[Council of Ministers of Albania|Government]].
* In '''France''' the [[Prefect (France)|prefect]] is a top-ranking public servant who belongs to the so-called ''Corps préfectoral''. The function was created on 17 February 1800 by Napoleon Bonaparte after his successful coup d'état of 9 November 1799 which made him head of state with the title ''Premier Consul''. The prefect's role at that time (until the reform of the function in the 1980s) was to be the top representative of the national government as well as the chief administrator in a [[Departments of France|department]] (which can be compared to a county in most English-speaking nations). The prefect's office is known as the [[prefecture]] (''préfecture''). [[Subprefect]]s operate as assistants in the [[Arrondissements of France|arrondissements]] (departmental subdivisions).
* In the [[Cantons of Switzerland|Swiss canton]] of [[Vaud]] a prefect (''préfet'') is the representative of local authorities (districts) appointed by the president of the [[Council of State of Vaud|Council of State]].

In the 1980s, under the presidency of [[François Mitterrand]] (1981–1995), a fundamental change in the role of the prefect (and subprefect) took place. The previously extremely centralized [[French Fifth Republic]] was gradually decentralized by the creation of administrative [[Regions of France|regions]] and the devolution of central state powers into regions, departments, and communes (municipalities). New elected authorities were created (e.g. the ''Conseils régionaux'') in order to administer the subdivisional entities (''collectivités territoriales'') of the nation (law from 2 March 1982). The changes have gradually altered the function of the prefect, who is still the chief representative of the State in a department, but without the omnipotent function of chief administrator. Instead, the prefect has acquired the non-titular roles of chief controller of regional, departmental, and municipal public accounts, and of chief inspector of good (i.e. law-abiding) governance of the authorities of the respective territorial entities.<ref>''Le Petit Larousse 2013'', pp. 873 and 1420</ref>

A ''préfet maritime'' ([[maritime prefect]]) is a French admiral (''amiral'') who is commissioned to be the chief commander of a ''zone maritime'' (i.e. a section of the French territorial waters and the respective shores).

In Paris, the {{Lang|fr|préfet de police}} ([[Prefecture of Police|prefect of police]]) is the head of the city's police under the direct authority of the Minister of the Interior, which makes him unique as usually in French towns and cities the chief of the local police is subordinate to the mayor, who is the local representative of the minister in police matters.

* {{anchor|Italy}} In '''Italy''', a prefect (''[[:it:Prefetto (ordinamento italiano)|prefetto]]'') is a high-ranking public servant who belongs to the so-called ''Corpo prefettizio'' and is the State's representative in a [[Provinces of Italy|province]]. His office is called ''Prefettura – Ufficio Territoriale del Governo''. The prefects have political responsibility and coordinate the local head of the State Police (''Questore''), who has technical responsibility to enforce laws when [[public safety]] is threatened. Similar offices already existed under various names before [[Italian unification]] (1861) (e.g., in the [[Kingdom of Two Sicilies]] it was named "intendente"); in Northern Italy, it was imported from France during the Napoleonic occupation (1802). Its current form dates back to 1861, when the government of [[Bettino Ricasoli]] extended the [[Kingdom of Sardinia]]'s administrative system to the entire country. In the early years the job entailed a more vigorous and vigilant application of central state authority, by enforcing regulations and dispositions in the fields of education, public works, public health, and the nomination of mayors and provincial deputies. He also plays the role of intermediary between the government and municipalities and other local governments.
* In some '''Spanish-speaking states in Latin America''', following a French-type model introduced in Spain itself, prefects were installed as governors; remarkably, in some republics (like Peru) two levels were constructed from the French model: a prefecture and a department, the one being only part of the other.
*In '''[[Greece]]''' a prefect (nomarhis, νομάρχης) used to be the elected head of one of the 54 [[prefectures]] (nomarhies, νομαρχίες), which were second-level administrative divisions, between the first-level [[Peripheries of Greece|Peripheries]] (periferies, περιφέρειες) and the third-level Municipalities (demoi, δήμοι), until their abolition with the [[Kallikratis plan|Kallikratis reform]] in 2010. The Prefectural elections (popular ballot) would be held every four years along with the Municipal elections. The last Prefectural [[elections]] in Greece were held in October 2006.
* In '''[[Romania]]''', a prefect (''[[Prefect (Romania)|prefect]]'') is the appointed governmental representative in a county (''[[județ]]'') and in the Municipality of [[Bucharest]], in an agency called ''prefectură''. The prefect's role is to represent the national government at local level, acting as a liaison and facilitating the implementation of National Development Plans and governing programmes at local level.
* In '''[[Québec]]''', a warden (French: ''préfet'') is the head of a [[regional county municipality]].
* In '''Brazil''', a prefect (''prefeito'') is the elected head of the executive branch in a municipality. Larger cities, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, etc., also have sub-prefects, appointed to their offices by the elected prefect.
* In '''[[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]''', the nation in the Caucasus region, a prefect (პრეფექტი) was the head of the executive branch in a municipality, appointed by the [[President of Georgia]] from 1990 to 1992.
*In '''[[Iran]]''', a prefect ({{lang|fa|بخشدار}}) is responsible for the administration of a sector in Iran's political and administrative system.
* In '''[[China]]''' the leader of a prefecture is called an administration commissioner (行署专员).<ref>[https://www.al.gov.cn/info/1106/46088.htm al.gov.cn]</ref> Leaders of leagues (the Inner Mongolian equivalent) are league leaders (盟长). Both are equivalent to prefects. But far more common is prefecture-level cities (municipalities are equivalent; there are no province above them), who have ''shizhang'' (市长) which are often misleadingly translated as mayors, but are always responsible for the full prefecture rather than just the urban districts or actual urban core, and are thus prefects, not mayors (unless no country-level division exists in the prefecture, such as [[Dongguan]], in which case the officeholder is prefect-mayor). If the urban area belongs to only one urban district, the head of the district is the effective mayor, otherwise there is none (like Paris during the time of [[Seine (department)|department of Seine]]). In all cases actual leadership is exercised through the party committee.