Editing President (government title) (section)

===Presidential systems===
{{main|President of the Republic}}
[[File:Alberto Fernández and Xiomara Castro during the inauguration of Gustavo Petro (2).jpg|thumb|Presidents [[Xiomara Castro]] (left) of Honduras and [[Alberto Fernández]] (right) of Argentina]]
In almost all states with a [[presidential system]] of government, the president exercises the functions of [[head of state]] and [[head of government]], i.e. the president directs the executive branch of government. When a president is not only head of state, but also head of government, this is known in Europe as a ''President of the Council'' (from the French ''Président du Conseil''), used 1871–1940 and 1944–1958 in the [[Third French Republic|Third]] and [[Fourth French Republic]]s. In the [[United States]] the president has always been both Head of State and Head of Government and has always had the title of President.

Presidents in this system are either directly elected by popular vote or indirectly elected by an electoral college or some other democratically elected body.

In the [[United States]], the [[President of the United States|president]] is indirectly elected by the [[U.S. Electoral College|Electoral College]] made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In most states of the United States, each elector is committed to voting for a specified candidate determined by the popular vote in each state, so that the people, in voting for each elector, are in effect voting for the candidate. However, for various reasons the numbers of electors in favour of each candidate are unlikely to be proportional to the popular vote. Thus, in five close United States elections ([[1824 U.S. presidential election|1824]], [[1876 U.S. presidential election|1876]], [[1888 U.S. presidential election|1888]], [[2000 U.S. presidential election|2000]], and [[2016 U.S. presidential election|2016]]), the candidate with the most popular votes still lost the election.
[[File:Otunbayeva with Putin.jpg|thumb|Presidents [[Roza Otunbayeva|Otunbayeva]] (left) and [[Vladimir Putin|Putin]] (right) of Kyrgyzstan and Russia]]
In [[Mexico]], the [[President of Mexico|president]] is directly elected for a six-year term by popular vote. The candidate who wins the most votes is elected president even without an absolute majority. The president is allowed to serve only one term.

In [[Brazil]], the [[President of Brazil|president]] is directly elected for a four-year term by popular vote. A candidate has to have more than 50% of the valid votes. If no candidates achieve a majority of the votes, there is a [[runoff election]] between the two candidates with most votes. Again, a candidate needs a majority of the vote to be elected. In Brazil, a president cannot be elected to more than two consecutive terms, but there is no limit on the number of terms a president can serve.

Many [[South America]]n, [[Central America]]n, [[Africa]]n and some [[Asia]]n nations follow the presidential model.