Directorial system

{{Short description|Socio-political system with shared executive power}} {{Politics sidebar|expanded=Systems}} {{Systems of government|upright=1.2}} {{Basic Forms of government}}

The '''directorial''' or '''executive council system''' is a political system in which executive power is held directly by a collegial body, typically called a council, directory, or cabinet, with no single head of government. The system was pioneered by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution and the French Directory, which ended the Reign of Terror. It has since been used by the Swiss Confederation as part of the 1848 Swiss Constitution, adopted after the Sonderbund War.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Federal Council |url=https://www.admin.ch/en/history-of-the-federal-council |access-date=2026-05-07 |website=www.admin.ch |language=en}}</ref>

==Current directorial systems== Countries with directorial heads of state sharing ceremonial functions: * {{Flag|Andorra}}: co-princes * {{Flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}: presidency * {{Flag|Eswatini}}: Ngwenyama and Ndlovukati * {{Flag|San Marino}}: Captains Regent

Countries governed by an executive directorial head of state: * {{Flag|Nicaragua}}: co-presidents * {{Flag|San Marino}}: Congress of State * {{Flag|Switzerland}}: Federal Council

Supranational and subnational entities governed by a directorial system: * {{Flag|European Union}}: European Council and European Commission * {{Flag|Northern Ireland|union}}: First Minister and deputy First Minister * {{Flag|Switzerland}}: cantons, municipalities

=== Directorial republic in Switzerland === One country now using this form of government is Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Switzerland|title=Switzerland | History, Flag, Map, Capital, Population, & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> In Switzerland, directories operate at all levels of administration: federal, cantonal and municipal. On the face of it, the Swiss Federal Council might appear to be a typical parliamentary government; technically, however, it is not a meeting of ministers, but a college of heads of state and simultaneously the federal cabinet. The current president of the confederation is in fact only a {{lang | la | primus inter pares}} (first among equals) with representative functions in particular for diplomacy with other States, and without any power either of direction or of coordination of the activity of colleagues.<ref name="Swiss Pol">{{cite book |author=Pierre Cormon |date=2014 |location=Ginevra |publisher=Slatkine |title=Swiss Politics for Complete Beginners}}</ref> The Swiss Federal Council is elected by the Federal Assembly for four years, and comprises seven members, among whom one serves as president and one as vice-president on a rotating basis, although these positions are symbolic in normal circumstances. Unlike in a parliamentary system, the Federal Council is not answerable before the Federal Assembly, but is elected for a roughly concurrent term of office. The link between the Swiss managerial system and the presidential system is even more evident for the cantonal governments, where currently all directors are all individually directly elected by the voters.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1 =Buchs |first1 =Aurélia |last2 =Soguel |first2 =Nils |date =2022-04-01 |title =Fiscal performance and the re-election of finance ministers–evidence from the Swiss cantons |url =https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_FD35D0A58400.P001/REF.pdf |journal =Public Choice |language =en |volume =191 |issue =1 |pages =31–49 |doi =10.1007/s11127-021-00949-z |s2cid =246371550 |issn=1573-7101|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== History == In political history, the term directory, in French ''{{lang|fr|directoire}}'', is applied to high collegial institutions of state composed of members styled director. Early directorial systems were the Ambrosian Republic (1447-1450), the Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620), New England Confederation (1643–1686), partially in First Stadtholderless Period of Dutch Republic (1650–1672), Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 and the Directory of 1795–1799 in France.<ref>{{Britannica|165043|Directory (French history)}}</ref>

The French Directory was inspired by the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, which prominently featured a collegial 12-member Supreme Executive Council with the president in fact only ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals). Variants of this form of government, based on the French model, were also established in the European regions conquered by France during the French Revolutionary Wars. Directorial systems have a lower presidentialism metric value compared to presidential systems due to lower concentration of political power in the hands of one individual.<ref name="v-dem">{{Cite web |last1=Sigman |first1=Rachel |last2=Lindberg |first2=Staffan I. |date=November 1, 2017 |title=Neopatrimonialism and Democracy: An Empirical Investigation of Africa's Political Regimes |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3066654 |via=Social Science Research Network |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3066654 |ssrn=3066654 }}</ref> Military juntas differ from the directorial system by not being elected. Utilizing sortition to select multiple executives can lead to a directorial system.

==Former directorial systems == In the past, countries with elected directories included: * Bohemian Revolt from 1618 to 1620 * {{Flagicon image|English Red Ensign 1620.svg}} New England Confederation from 1643 to 1686 * {{Flagicon image|Flag of The Commonwealth.svg}} Commonwealth of England from 1649 to 1653 * {{Flagicon image|Statenvlag.svg}} Dutch Republic partially in First Stadtholderless Period from 1650 to 1672 * {{Flag|Pennsylvania}} - Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1790 * {{Flag|First French Republic}} - French Directory from 1795 to 1799 * {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Repubblica Cisalpina.svg}} Cisalpine Republic from 1795 to 1799 * {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Cispadane Republic.svg}} Cispadane Republic from 1796 to 1797 * {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Repubblica Romana (1798).svg}} Roman Republic (1798–1799) from 1798 to 1799 * {{Flagicon image|Flag of Parthenopaean Republic (1799).svg}} Parthenopaean Republic in 1799 * {{Flag|Costa Rica}} - The Town's Legates Junta and High Government Junta from 1821 to 1823 * {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Roman Republic (19th century).svg}} Roman Republic (1849) from 1849 to 1850 (Triumvirate) * {{Flag|Ukrainian People's Republic}} - Directorate of Ukraine from 1918 to 1920<ref>{{Britannica|165056|Directory (Ukrainian ruling body)}}</ref> * {{Flag|Republic of China}} - National Government - from 1928 to 1947 * {{Flag|Uruguay}} - National Council of Administration from 1919 to 1933 and National Council of Government from 1952 to 1967 * {{Flag|East Germany}} - State Council of East Germany from 1960 to 1990 * {{Flag|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}} - All-Union Central Executive Committee from 1922 to 1938; Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1938 to 1989 * {{Flag|Polish People's Republic}} - State Council of the Polish People's Republic from 1952 to 1989 * {{Flag|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia}} - Presidency of Yugoslavia, ''de jure'' from 1971, ''de facto'' from 1980 to 1991.

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Collective heads of state Category:Collective heads of government Category:Power sharing Category:Separation of powers Category:Types of democracy Category:Types of republics