Editing Head of state (section)

==Interim and exceptional cases==
Whenever a head of state is not available for any reason, constitutional provisions may allow the role to fall temporarily to an assigned person or collective body. In a republic, this is - depending on provisions outlined by the constitution or improvised - a [[vice-president]], the chief of government, the legislature or its presiding officer. In a monarchy, this is usually a [[regent]] or collegial regency (council). For example, in the United States the vice-president acts when the president is incapacitated, and in the United Kingdom the monarch's powers may be delegated to [[Counsellor of State|counselors of state]] when they are abroad or unavailable. Neither of the two [[co-princes of Andorra]] is resident in Andorra; each is represented in Andorra by a delegate, though these persons hold no formal title.

There are also several methods of [[head of state succession]] in the event of the removal, disability or death of an incumbent head of state.

In exceptional situations, such as war, occupation, revolution or a [[coup d'état]], constitutional institutions, including the symbolically crucial head of state, may be reduced to a figurehead or be suspended in favour of an emergency office (such as the original Roman [[dictator]]) or eliminated by a new "provisionary" regime, such as a collective of the [[Military dictatorship|junta]] type, or removed by an occupying force, such as a [[Military occupation|military governor]] (an early example being the [[Sparta]]n [[Harmost]]).<ref>{{Citation |title=Transitional Governance Today |date=2020 |work=State Renaissance for Peace: Transitional Governance under International Law |pages=1–30 |editor-last=De Groof |editor-first=Emmanuel H. D. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/state-renaissance-for-peace/transitional-governance-today/F11B40FCAFCC9BC196743E64F5BB67E6 |access-date=2025-01-27 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-49976-7}}</ref>