Editing Direct election (section)

=== 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>