The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (216 page)

 
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In the ordinary dictionary sense of ‘liking or estimation of one thing before or above another’, the concept of preference is important in positivist social science. Economists regard behaviour as ‘revealed preference’ and usually regard a person's preferences as identical to her choices. Political scientists and sociologists are more cautious, especially when what people say differs from what they do.

 
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Simply, a (voter's or consumer's) order of preference among a number of candidates or options. Used to examine voting procedures: most procedures ask each voter only to reveal part of his or her preference ordering (his or her first preference in
first-past-the-post
and in party-list systems of
proportional representation
). Where full preference orderings are available or can be reconstructed, voting procedures can be evaluated by how faithfully they represent them.

 
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Prerogative powers are those which are at the autonomous disposal of heads of state and which do not require sanction by a legislature. Their theoretical justification lies in Locke's view of a need for a final arbiter to maintain order. In liberal democracies written constitutions vary in their definition of prerogative powers for heads of state. Constitutional monarchs and some presidents, for example in Germany, have almost entirely ceremonial powers, although in some cases, such as the Spanish monarchy under King Juan Carlos, important political roles can be played. More conventionally, presidents have reserve or emergency powers to be used in situations of political crisis, although by definition they are rarely invoked. In the United States, the President as head of state has considerable powers beyond those in an emergency which relate to the initiation of legislation, maintenance of internal order, diplomatic relations, and the command of the armed forces. In theory the Presidency is checked by Congress, federalism, and an independent judiciary, but in practice has asserted considerable autonomy in the use of such powers. The French Presidency in the
Fifth Republic
has perhaps the most extensive constitutionally defined prerogative powers. In addition to unconstrained emergency powers the French President ordinarily has the right to chair the council of ministers, with the power to appoint, rather then merely nominate, and dismiss the prime minister, negotiate with foreign powers, and call referendums. This effectively makes the President the head of the government as well as head of state. In the United Kingdom in the absence of a written constitution prerogative powers have become discretionary powers of the political executive, carried out in the name of the monarch. These cover the making of foreign policy, the prosecution of war, and the making of appointments to the armed forces and the central machinery of government. In these policy areas, whilst still open to scrutiny, the UK executive is considerably more autonomous from parliamentary decision-making processes than executives in other Westminster-style systems.
JBr 

 
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Either the working chief executive or an honorific office with a working chief executive's post below it. In voluntary bodies, ‘president’ is more usually an honorific post. In political constitutions, ‘president’ is sometimes a working chief executive (‘head of government’), sometimes an honorific post with occasional appointment or deadlock-breaking roles (‘head of state’), sometimes both.
Presidents who are heads of government are common in non-democracies but less common in democracies. There are a number of examples in Latin America but the best-known examples are in the United States and France. The US Constitution, Article II, begins ‘The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America’. His specific powers, on the face of it, are limited to: acting as Commander-in-Chief of the US Army and Navy, and of state militias, ‘when called into the actual Service of the United States’; ‘requiring an Opinion, in writing’ from the heads of executive departments; making senior appointments; and making treaties ‘with the Advice and Consent of the Senate’. The actual power of the US President is much greater than this list would suggest. In a superpower and a world with nuclear weapons, the power of Commander-in-Chief is omnipresent. The restrictions on making treaties are evaded by calling them ‘executive agreements’. Congress has tried to rein in the ‘imperial Presidency’ but with no real success in foreign policy.
In domestic policy, the power of the President is much less. He may run executive departments however he pleases, but even this is subject to having their heads ratified by the Senate, which in recent years has been a substantial obstacle. Domestic policy-making is best regarded as a game in which the President, the two houses of Congress (separately), and the federal courts have a set of interlocking veto powers. For any policy to be implemented, a number of the players with vetoes must agree (the number varying with the policy area).
The Constitution of the French
Fifth Republic
was written by Charles de Gaulle and his allies in order to give far greater powers to de Gaulle than to the presidents of the
Fourth Republic
which he overthrew. He strengthened his own powers in 1962 unconstitutionally but without penalty. The President of France has the power of arbitration (French
arbitrage
) to ‘ensure the regular functioning of the public authorities, as well as the continuity of the state’. This power is extremely wide, and it is used extremely widely when the President and the government are from the same party, as they have been for most of the life of the Fifth Republic.
The duties of head of state entail a great deal of dining, attending funerals, and presenting medals. In some cases, the head of state may be a unifying national symbol: this depends more on the president's personality than on the mode of election or the formal powers of the post, as may be seen for instance in the contrasting examples of Mary Robinson (Ireland) and Kurt Waldheim (Austria). The constitutional roles of the post are similar, but the unifying Robinson could be a very effective head of state, while the divisive Waldheim could not. A head of state usually has backup powers if the head of the government resigns or the government falls, and in national emergency. An unusual use of these was the dismissal of the government of Gough Whitlam in Australia, by the Governor-General in 1975. The Governor-General of Australia acts on behalf of the Queen as head of state. Although the powers of the Australian head of state escaped unscathed in 1975, the incident contributed to a long decline in support for the monarchy in Australia. This illustrates a constraint even on decorative heads of state.
Presidents may be directly elected, indirectly elected, or appointed. The more nearly they are to being directly elected, the more authority they have in their own right, as in the French and American cases.