Editing De facto (section)

===Governance and sovereignty===
{{Further|List of states with limited recognition|Proto-state|De facto embassy}}
[[File:De-facto-territory-control-map-of-the-world-borderless-14-05-2019.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|''De facto'' political map of the world, May 2019]]

A de facto government is a government wherein all the attributes of [[sovereignty]] have, by [[usurpation]], been transferred from those who had been legally invested with them to others, who, sustained by a power above the forms of law, claim to act and do really act in their stead.<ref>30 Am Jur 181. ''Law Dictionary'', James A. Ballentine, Second Edition, 1948, p. 345.</ref>

In politics, a de facto leader of a country or region is one who has assumed authority, regardless of whether by lawful, constitutional, or legitimate means; very frequently, the term is reserved for those whose power is thought by some faction to be held by unlawful, unconstitutional, or otherwise illegitimate means, often because it had deposed a previous leader or undermined the rule of a current one. ''De facto'' leaders sometimes do not hold a constitutional office and may exercise power informally.

Not all [[dictator]]s are de facto rulers. For example, [[Augusto Pinochet]] of [[Chile]] initially came to power as the chairperson of a [[military junta]], which briefly made him de facto leader of Chile, but he later amended the nation's constitution and made himself president until new elections were called, making him the formal and legal ruler of Chile. Similarly, [[Saddam Hussein]]'s formal rule of [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] is often recorded as beginning in 1979, the year he assumed the [[President of Iraq|Presidency of Iraq]]. However, his de facto rule of the nation began earlier: during his time as [[vice president]]; he exercised a great deal of power at the expense of the elderly [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]], the de jure president.

In [[Argentina]], the successive military coups that overthrew constitutional governments installed de facto governments in [[José Félix Uriburu|1930–1932]], [[1943 Argentine coup d'état|1943–1946]], [[Revolución Libertadora|1955–1958]], [[Argentine Revolution|1966–1973]] and [[National Reorganization Process|1976–1983]], the last of which combined the powers of the [[President of Argentina|presidential office]] with those of the [[National Congress of Argentina|National Congress]]. The subsequent legal analysis of the validity of such actions led to the formulation of a [[De facto government doctrine|doctrine of the de facto governments]], a [[case law]] ([[precedent]]ial) formulation which essentially said that the actions and decrees of past de facto governments, although not rooted in legal legitimacy when taken, remained binding until and unless such time as they were revoked or repealed de jure by a subsequent legitimate government.

That doctrine was nullified by the [[1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution|constitutional reform of 1994]]. Article 36 states:

{{blockquote|
*(1) This Constitution shall rule even when its observance is interrupted by acts of force against the institutional order and the democratic system. These acts shall be irreparably [[null and void|null]].
*(2) Their authors shall be punished with the penalty foreseen in Section 29, disqualified in perpetuity from holding public offices and excluded from the benefits of [[pardon]] and [[Commutation of sentence|commutation]] of sentences.
*(3) Those who, as a consequence of these acts, were to assume the powers foreseen for the authorities of this Constitution or for those of the provinces, shall be punished with the same penalties and shall be civil and criminally liable for their acts. The respective actions shall not be subject to prescription.
*(4) All citizens shall have the right to oppose resistance to those committing the acts of force stated in this section.
*(5) He who, procuring personal enrichment, incurs in serious fraudulent offense against the Nation shall also attempt subversion against the democratic system, and shall be disqualified to hold public office for the term specified by law.
*(6) Congress shall enact a law on public [[ethics]] which shall rule the exercise of public office.
}}

Two examples of de facto leaders are [[Deng Xiaoping]] of the People's Republic of China and general [[Manuel Noriega]] of [[Panama]]. Both of these men exercised nearly all control over their respective nations for many years despite not having either legal constitutional office or the legal authority to exercise power. These individuals are today commonly recorded as the "leaders" of their respective nations; recording their legal, correct title would not give an accurate assessment of their power. A modern example of a de facto ruler was [[Ahmed al-Sharaa]], who became the de facto [[List of heads of state of Syria|leader of Syria]] until 29 January 2025, when he was appointed [[President of Syria|president]] following the [[fall of the Assad regime]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 December 2024 |title=Abu Mohammad al-Julani: Who is Syria's de facto ruler? |url=https://www.jns.org/abu-mohammad-al-julani-who-is-syrias-de-facto-ruler/ |work=Jewish News Syndacate}}</ref> 

Another example of a de facto ruler is someone who is not the actual ruler but exerts great or total influence over the true ruler, which is quite common in monarchies. Some examples of these de facto rulers are [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] of China (for son [[Tongzhi Emperor]] and nephew [[Guangxu Emperor]]), Prince [[Alexander Danilovich Menshikov|Alexander Menshikov]] (for his former lover Empress [[Catherine I of Russia]]), [[Cardinal Richelieu]] of France (for [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]]), Queen [[Elisabeth Farnese|Elisabeth of Parma]] (for her husband, King [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]]) and Queen [[Maria Carolina of Austria|Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily]] (for her husband King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies]]).

==== Borders ====
The de facto boundaries of a country are defined by the area that its government is actually able to enforce its laws in, and to defend against encroachments by other countries that may also claim the same territory de jure. The [[Durand Line]] is an example of a de facto boundary. As well as cases of [[border dispute]]s, de facto boundaries may also arise in relatively unpopulated areas in which the border was never formally established or in which the agreed border was never surveyed and its exact position is unclear. The same concepts may also apply to a boundary between provinces or other subdivisions of a [[federation|federal state]].

==== Segregation ====
In [[South Africa]], although de jure [[apartheid]] formally began in 1948, de facto racist policies and practices discriminating against black South Africans, People of Colour, and Indians dated back decades before.{{efn|<ref name="Introduction to Roman-Dutch Law">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoro00leeruoft |title=Introduction to Roman-Dutch Law |access-date=27 March 2011 |author=R.W. Lee |publisher=Oxford, Clarendon Press }}</ref><ref name="Afrikaner political thought: analysis and documents">{{cite book |title=Afrikaner political thought: analysis and documents |author=A. Du Toit, H. B. Giliomee |isbn=978-0-520-04319-0 |publisher=University of California Press |year=1983 }}</ref><ref>Gish, Steven (2000). ''Alfred B. Xuma: African, American, South African.'' New York University Press. p. 8.</ref><ref>Hoiberg, Dale; Ramchandani, Indu (2000). ''Students' Britannica India, Volumes 1–5.'' Popular Prakashan. p. 142.</ref><ref>Allen, John (2005). ''Apartheid South Africa: An Insider's Overview of the Origin And Effects of Separate Development.'' iUniverse. p. xi.</ref><ref>Nojeim, Michael J. (2004). ''Gandhi and King: the power of nonviolent resistance.'' Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 127.</ref><ref name="leach">Leach, Graham (1986). ''South Africa: no easy path to peace.'' Routledge. p. 68.</ref><ref>Tankard, Keith (9 May 2004). [http://www.knowledge4africa.com/worldhistory/proto-apartheid09.htm Chapter 9 The Natives (Urban Areas) Act] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120022848/http://www.knowledge4africa.com/worldhistory/proto-apartheid09.htm |date=20 November 2008 }}. Rhodes University. knowledge4africa.com.</ref><ref>Baroness Young – Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (4 July 1986). [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1986/jul/04/south-africa#S5LV0477P0_19860704_HOL_99 vol 477 cc1159-250] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326134600/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1986/jul/04/south-africa#S5LV0477P0_19860704_HOL_99 |date=2016-03-26 }}. Hansard.</ref><ref>[http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/representation-of-natives-act.htm The Representation of Natives Act]. sahistory.org {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013060416/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/representation-of-natives-act.htm |date=13 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/indian-passive-resistance-south-africa-1946-1948|title = Indian passive resistance in South Africa, 1946–1948|date = n.d.|access-date = 23 February 2015|website = sahistory.org.za|publisher = SA History|last = Reddy|first = E.S|archive-date = 23 February 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150223214527/http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/indian-passive-resistance-south-africa-1946-1948|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>Ambrosio, Thomas (2002). ''Ethnic identity groups and U.S. foreign policy.'' Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 56–57.</ref>}}{{Excessive citations inline|date=March 2024}}

''De facto'' racial discrimination and [[Racial segregation|segregation]] in the [[United States]] (outside of the South) until the 1950s and 1960s was simply discrimination that was {{em|not}} segregation by law (de jure). "[[Jim Crow laws]]", which were enacted in the 1870s, brought legal racial segregation against [[black Americans]] residing in the [[Southern United States|American South]]. These laws were legally ended in 1964 by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].<ref name="cra64">{{Cite web |url=http://finduslaw.com/civil_rights_act_of_1964_cra_title_vii_equal_employment_opportunities_42_us_code_chapter_21 |title=Civil Rights Act of 1964 |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021141154/http://finduslaw.com/civil_rights_act_of_1964_cra_title_vii_equal_employment_opportunities_42_us_code_chapter_21 |archive-date=2010-10-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="scjc7">{{cite book |last1=Woodward |first1=C. Vann |last2=McFeely |first2=William S. |title=The Strange Career of Jim Crow |year=2001 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=7 |isbn=0-19-514689-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Desmond |title=Separate and Unequal: Black Americans and the US Federal Government |url=https://archive.org/details/separateunequalb0000king |url-access=registration |year=1995 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/separateunequalb0000king/page/n89 3] |isbn=0-19-828016-5 }}</ref>