Editing Republic (section)

=== Structure ===
{{Systems of government}}

With no monarch, most modern republics use the title [[President (government title)|president]] for the [[head of state]]. Originally used to refer to the presiding officer of a committee or governing body in Great Britain the usage was also applied to political leaders, including the leaders of some of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] (originally Virginia in 1608); in full, the "President of the Council".<ref>[[OED]], ''s. v.''</ref> The first republic to adopt the title was the [[United States|United States of America]]. Keeping its usage as the head of a committee the [[President of the Continental Congress]] was the leader of the original congress. When the new constitution was written the title of [[President of the United States]] was conferred on the head of the new [[executive branch]].

If the head of state of a republic is also the [[head of government]], this is called a [[presidential system]]. There are a number of forms of presidential government. A full-presidential system has a president with substantial authority and a central political role.

In other states the legislature is dominant and the presidential role is almost purely ceremonial and apolitical, such as in [[Germany]], [[Italy]], [[India]], and [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. These states are [[parliamentary republic]]s and operate similarly to constitutional monarchies with [[parliamentary system]]s where the power of the monarch is also greatly circumscribed. In parliamentary systems the head of government, most often titled [[prime minister]], exercises the most real political power. [[Semi-presidential system]]s have a president as an active head of state with important powers, but they also have a prime minister as a head of government with important powers.

The rules for appointing the president and the leader of the government, in some republics permit the appointment of a president and a prime minister who have opposing political convictions: in France, when the members of the ruling [[cabinet (government)|cabinet]] and the president come from opposing political factions, this situation is called [[cohabitation (government)|cohabitation]].

In some countries, like [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[San Marino]], and [[Switzerland]], the head of state is not a single person but a committee (council) of several persons holding that office. The Roman Republic had two [[consul]]s, elected for a one-year term by the ''[[comitia centuriata]]'', consisting of all adult, freeborn males who could prove citizenship.