Head of state

The Head of State (abbreviated HoS) is the chief representative of a nation in the Particracy game world. The title of the Head of State is President by default, but this can be changed by amending the constitution via a constitutional bill.

Becoming Head of State
Currently there are three different settings for the head of state: a presidential system, a semi-presidential system or a hereditary system.

Presidential System
In this system, the head of state is directly elected by the people. Parties can nominate their candidate on their party page, who will then run in the coming election. The parties' candidate names cannot be publically seen by other parties untill the Elections, for strategic reasons. It is possible not to run a candidate at all, by filling in a blank instead of a name. That way the famous spoiler effect of direct elections can be prevented in favour of an ally. In this system, the head of state is also Head of Government.

Elections take place at the same time as those for the legislature and have two steps:

1. Citizens vote for one of any of the parties that have named a candidate for the office of Head of State 2. If one candidate gets over 50% of the vote, the top finisher becomes Head of State 3. Otherwise the top two finishers run in a second round, of which the winner becomes Head of State

Possible titles for the Head of State in this system are: President, Consul or Secretary-General.

Semi-Presidential System
This is in fact very similar, but in this system the head of state is not the Head of Government. This is the default status for countries and is still the most common.

Hereditary System
In this system, the head of state is not elected and instead remains in power. In this case the Head of State is not affiliated with a party, and its powers are therefore ceremonial only. In most cases this makes the country a constitutional monarchy, although this need not be the case.

Possible titles for the Head of State in this system are: King, Emperor or Prince-Sovereign.

Powers
At present the only extra powers a Head of State gains are the exclusive ability to propose cabinets in countries where a special constitutional bill is in place or the ability, along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to propose the ratification of a treaty. More features will be added in the future.