Editing Head of government (section)

== Parliamentary heads of government ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2018}}
[[File:CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The heads of government of five members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] at the 1944 [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting|Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference]]. From left to right, [[William Lyon Mackenzie King|Mackenzie King]] (Canada), [[Jan Smuts]] (South Africa), [[Winston Churchill]] (United Kingdom), [[Peter Fraser]] ([[New Zealand]]), and [[John Curtin]] (Australia).]]

In parliamentary systems, government functions along the following lines:
* The head of government&nbsp;— usually the leader of the majority party or [[Coalition government|coalition]]&nbsp;— forms the government, which is answerable to parliament;
* Full answerability of government to parliament is achieved through
** The ability of parliament to pass a [[vote of no confidence]].
** The ability to vote down legislative proposals of the government.
** Control over or ability to vote down fiscal measures and the budget (or [[Loss of Supply|supply]]); a government is powerless without control of the state finances. In a [[bicameral]] system, it is often the so-called [[lower house]] (e.g. the [[British House of Commons]]) that exercises the major elements of control and oversight; however, in some (e.g. Australia, Italy), the government is constitutionally or by convention answerable to both chambers/Houses of Parliament.

All of these requirements directly impact the head of government's role. Consequently, they often play a 'day to day' role in parliament, answering questions and defending the government on the 'floor of the House', while in [[semi-presidential]] systems they may not be required to play as much of a role in the functioning of parliament.

=== Appointment ===
In many countries, the head of government is commissioned by the head of state to form a government, on the basis of the strength of party support in the lower house; in some other states, the head of government is directly elected by parliament. Many parliamentary systems require ministers to serve in parliament, while others ban ministers from sitting in parliament (they must resign on becoming ministers).

=== Removal ===
Heads of government are typically removed from power in a parliamentary system by
* Resignation, following:
** Defeat in a general election.
** Defeat in a [[leadership vote]] at their party [[caucus]], to be replaced by another member of the same party.
** Defeat in a parliamentary vote on a major issue, e.g., [[loss of supply]], [[Motion of No Confidence|loss of confidence]]. (In such cases, a head of government may seek a [[parliamentary dissolution]] from the head of state and attempt to regain support by popular vote.)
* Dismissal&nbsp;— some constitutions allow a head of state (or their designated representative, as is the case in some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries) to dismiss a head of government, though its use can be controversial, as occurred in 1975 when then Australian Governor-General, Sir [[John Kerr (governor-general)|John Kerr]], dismissed Prime Minister [[Gough Whitlam]] in the [[Australian constitutional crisis of 1975|Australian Constitutional Crisis]].
* Death&nbsp;— in this case, the deputy head of government typically acts as the head of government until a new head of government is appointed.

=== First among equals or dominating the cabinet? ===
Constitutions differ in the range and scope of powers granted to the head of government. Some older constitutions; for example, Australia's [[Constitution of Australia|1900 text]], and Belgium's [[Constitution of Belgium|1830 text]]; do not mention their prime ministerial offices at all, the offices became a ''de facto'' political reality without a formal constitutional status. Some constitutions make a Prime Minister {{Lang|la|[[primus inter pares]]}} ([[first among equals]]) and that remains the practical reality for the [[Prime Minister of Belgium]] and the [[Prime Minister of Finland]]. Other states however, make their head of government a central and dominant figure within the cabinet system; Ireland's [[Taoiseach]], for example, alone can decide when to seek a parliamentary dissolution, in contrast to other countries where this is a cabinet decision, with the Prime Minister just one member voting on the suggestion. In [[Israel]], while the [[Cabinet of Israel|Government]] is nominally a collegiate body with a {{Lang|la|primus inter pares}} role for the [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]], the Israeli Prime Minister is the dominant figure in the executive branch in practice.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Amir |first1=R. |last2=Nachmias |first2=D. |last3=Arian |first3=A. |title=Executive Governance in Israel |date=17 December 2001 |page=48 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781403990150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpFaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |access-date=19 August 2019 |archive-date=19 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019142836/https://books.google.com/books?id=tpFaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Prime Minister of Sweden]], under the [[1974 Instrument of Government]], is a constitutional office with all key executive powers either directly at his or her disposal or indirectly through the collegial [[Government of Sweden|Government]], whose members are all appointed and dismissed at the Prime Minister's sole discretion.

Under the [[Constitution of the United Kingdom|unwritten British constitution]], the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]]'s role has evolved, based often on the individual's personal appeal and strength of character, as contrasted between, for example, [[Winston Churchill]] as against [[Clement Attlee]], [[Margaret Thatcher]] as against [[John Major]]. It is alleged{{by whom|date=August 2022}} that the increased personalisation of leadership in a number of states has led to heads of government becoming themselves "semi-presidential" figures, due in part to media coverage of politics that focuses on the leader and his or her mandate, rather than on parliament; and to the increasing centralisation of power in the hands of the head of government. Such allegations have been made against three former British Prime ministers: [[Margaret Thatcher]], [[Tony Blair]], and [[Boris Johnson]]. They were also made against Italian prime ministers [[Silvio Berlusconi]] and [[Matteo Renzi]], Canadian prime minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] and [[Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic of Germany)|Federal Chancellor]] of [[West Germany]] (later all of Germany), [[Helmut Kohl]], when in power.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}