Minister (government)A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ‘premier’, ‘chief minister’, ‘chancellor’ or other title. In Commonwealth realm jurisdictions which use the Westminster system of government, ministers are usually required to be members of one of the houses of Parliament or legislature, and are usually from the political party that controls a majority in the lower house of the legislature.
Prime Minister of SpainThe prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (Presidente del Gobierno), is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regulated in 1823 as a chairmanship of the extant Council of Ministers, although it is not possible to determine when it actually originated. Upon a vacancy, the Spanish monarch nominates a presidency candidate for a vote of confidence by the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (parliament).
Chief ministerA chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union territory) in India; a territory of Australia; a province of Sri Lanka or Pakistan; a federal province in Nepal; an autonomous region of Philippines; or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-governance.
Parliamentary oppositionParliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state. In some countries, the title of "Official Opposition" is conferred upon the largest political party sitting in opposition in the legislature, with said party's leader being accorded the title "Leader of the Opposition".
Semi-parliamentary systemSemi-parliamentary system can refer to either a prime-ministerial system, in which voters simultaneously vote for both members of legislature and the prime minister, or to a system of government in which the legislature is split into two parts that are both directly elected – one that has the power to remove the members of the executive by a vote of no confidence and another that does not. The former was first proposed by Maurice Duverger, who used it to refer to Israel from 1996 to 2001.
Ministry (collective executive)In constitutional usage in Commonwealth realms, a ministry (usually preceded by the definite article, i.e., the ministry) is a collective body of government ministers led by a head of government, such as a prime minister. It is described by Oxford Dictionaries as "a period of government under one prime minister". Although the term "cabinet" can in some circumstances be a synonym, a ministry can be a broader concept which might include office-holders who do not participate in cabinet meetings.
Constitution of NorwayThe Constitution of Norway (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish: Kongeriget Norges Grundlov; Norwegian Bokmål: Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov; Norwegian Nynorsk: Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll. The latter date is the National Day of Norway; it marks the establishment of the constitution. It is considered one of the world's most liberal and democratic constitutions.
Basic Laws of SwedenThe Basic Laws of Sweden (Sveriges grundlagar) are the four constitutional laws of the Kingdom of Sweden that regulate the Swedish political system, acting in a similar manner to the constitutions of most countries. These four laws are: the Instrument of Government (Regeringsformen), the Freedom of the Press Act (Tryckfrihetsförordningen), the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen) and the Act of Succession (Successionsordningen).
ChancellorChancellor (cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the audience. A chancellor's office is called a chancellery or chancery. The word is now used in the titles of many various officers in various settings (government, education, religion).
Prime Minister of DenmarkThe prime minister of Denmark (Danmarks statsminister, Forsætisráðharri, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Before the creation of the modern office, the kingdom did not initially have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the monarch, in whom the executive authority was vested. The Constitution of 1849 established a constitutional monarchy by limiting the powers of the monarch and creating the office of premierminister.
