1.
Lithuania
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Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in Northern Europe. One of the three Baltic states, it is situated along the shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.9 million people as of 2015, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. For centuries, the shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, with the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772–95, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuanias territory. As World War I neared its end, Lithuanias Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, in the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, a full member of the Eurozone, Schengen Agreement and NATO. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, the United Nations Human Development Index lists Lithuania as a very high human development country. Lithuania has been among the fastest growing economies in the European Union and is ranked 21st in the world in the Ease of Doing Business Index, the first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC. Over a millennium, the Indo-Europeans, who arrived in the 3rd – 2nd millennium BC, mixed with the local population, the first written mention of Lithuania is found in a medieval German manuscript, the Annals of Quedlinburg, in an entry dated 9 March 1009. Initially inhabited by fragmented Baltic tribes, in the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, after his assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. Despite the devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded rapidly, by the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia. The geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined the multicultural and multi-confessional character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the ruling elite practised religious tolerance and Chancery Slavonic language was used as an auxiliary language to the Latin for official documents. In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Polands offer to become its king, Jogaila embarked on gradual Christianization of Lithuania and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania. It implied that Lithuania, the fiercely independent land, was one of the last pagan areas of Europe to adopt Christianity, after two civil wars, Vytautas the Great became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its expansion, centralization of the state began
Lithuania
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Trakai Island Castle
Lithuania
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Flag
Lithuania
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Battle of Grunwald and
Vytautas the Great in the centre
Lithuania
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The original 20 members of the
Council of Lithuania after signing the
Act of Independence of Lithuania, 16 February 1918.
2.
Constitution of Lithuania
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The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on 25 October 1992, the first attempt to codify the laws of Grand Duchy of Lithuania took the form of Statutes of Lithuania, with the First Statute in power in 1529. The document, written in Ruthenian language, fulfilled the role of the law of the land. In a belated attempt to rectify the situation, a constitution was adopted on May 3,1791 – one of the oldest codified national constitutions in the world, the new constitution abolished the liberum veto and banned the szlachtas confederations, features that had crippled decision making the state. The peasantry saw their rights increased but it fell short of abolishing serfdom, religious tolerance was preserved, although the status of the Catholic faith was recognized. The 1791 document remained in force for less than 19 months, after a war with Russia. By 1795, the Commonwealth was partitioned between Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, with most of the lands of the Grand Duchy under the Russian rule, during the closing stages of World War I, Lithuania declared independence on February 16,1918. Three separate temporary constitutions were enacted on November 2,1918, April 4,1919, on November 2,1918, the State Council adopted a constitutional act. At the time, it was constrained by the decision of July 11,1918, declaring Lithuania a constitutional monarchy. In a changing environment, the council chose to adopt the act without specifying the form of government or the head of state. On April 4,1919, the State Council adopted modified Fundamental Principles of Temporary Constitution, the modifications were mainly notable for the introduction of the office of the President, in place of the Presidium of the Council. The Constituent Assembly did not adopt a constitution until August 1,1922, the constitution envisioned a strong parliament and a politically weakened President as the head of state. A coup on December 17,1926 started the process of transforming the Republic of Lithuania into an authoritarian state headed by Antanas Smetona as the President. The constitution of 1922 was disregarded as early as April 12,1927, a constitutional reform was proposed, strengthening the authority of the President and weakening the parliament. A new constitution was proclaimed by Smetona in May 1928 without any attempt to follow the procedure for changing the Constitution established in the 1922 document. Instead, the constitution was presented as a proposal to the nation, to be approved within 10 years, the Seimas would not reconvene until 1936. The constitution of 1928 was never submitted for approval to the nation, instead, the government started working on a new constitution, approved by the newly assembled Seimas in 1938. The constitution reversed the liberal ideas of the constitution of 1922, introducing the notion that the state was the foundation of existence of its citizens and not the other way round
Constitution of Lithuania
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Constitution of May 3 in Lithuanian language
Constitution of Lithuania
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Lithuania
Constitution of Lithuania
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President
Antanas Smetona proclaimed the constitution of 1928
Constitution of Lithuania
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Vytautas Landsbergis, the Chairman of the
Supreme Council
3.
Government of Lithuania
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Government of the Republic of Lithuania is the cabinet of Lithuania, exercising executive power in the country. The Government also has the right of initiative, puts together the state budget. The Government consists of the Prime Minister, who is the head of government, the Prime Minister is appointed by the President, with the assent of the Seimas. The Prime Minister then forms the rest of the cabinet, with the assent of the President, the current Government, the 17th Government since the independence in 1990, started work in December 2016 and is headed by Saulius Skvernelis as the Prime Minister. Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and Social Democratic Party of Lithuania form the government, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania exercises executive power in Lithuania. The powers of the Government are defined by the Constitution and laws of Lithuania, the Government has the responsibility to administer the affairs of the country, ensure its security and public order. It executes laws and resolutions of the Seimas as well as the decrees of the President, the government disposes of the property of the state and establishes procedures for its management and use. The Government, along with the Seimas and the President, has the right of initiative in Lithuania. The government prepares draft laws and presents them to the Seimas for consideration, the government also prepares a draft budget and submits it to the Seimas. The Government executes the budget approved by the Seimas, in foreign affairs, the government establishes diplomatic ties and maintains relations with foreign states and international organizations. The Government shares the responsibility for managing the affairs of the country with the President. The Government proposes and the President approves Lithuanias diplomatic representatives to foreign states, the Prime Minister is appointed by the President, with the assent of the Seimas. Likewise, the ministers are proposed by the Prime Minister and appointed by the President, within 15 days of the appointment, the Prime Minister presents the Government and its programme to the Seimas for consideration. The Government receives its mandate after the Seimas gives assent to its programme in a majority vote, the Government is responsible to the Seimas for its activities. Likewise, the ministers are responsible to the Seimas and the President, the Government presents to the Seimas an annual report on its activities and reports to the Seimas on the execution of the budget. Upon the request of the Seimas, the Government or individual ministers must give an account of their activities, the Government is also obliged to inform the public about their activities through the internet and other media, or through meetings with the people. The Government returns its mandate to the President after the Seimas elections or the elections of the President, or upon the resignation of the Government. The return of the mandate after the elections of the President is largely ceremonial, if the Seimas expresses no-confidence in the Government, the Government may propose to the President to hold a new election to the Seimas
Government of Lithuania
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Lithuanian Government building in Vilnius
Government of Lithuania
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Algirdas Butkevičius has served as the Prime Minister since December 2012
Government of Lithuania
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Kazimiera Prunskienė, the first Prime Minister of independent Lithuania
Government of Lithuania
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Algirdas Brazauskas served as the Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006
4.
President of Lithuania
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The following is a list of rulers over Lithuania—grand dukes, kings, and presidents—the heads of authority over historical Lithuanian territory. The timeline includes Lithuania as an entity or legitimately part of a greater sovereign entity as well as Lithuania under control or occupation of an outside authority. The incumbents and office-holders are listed by names most commonly used in English language, where appropriate, the alternations in Lithuanian, Ruthenian and Polish are included. The state of Lithuania formed in 1230s, when threatened by the Livonian Order in the north and he became the only crowned king of Lithuania. His state became known as Grand Duchy of Lithuania, after Grand Duke Jogaila became also king of Poland in 1386, the two states became closer connected and since 1440 both were ruled by a common ruler. In 1569 Union of Lublin was signed and a new entity—the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—emerged, the commonwealth was partitioned in 1795 and Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire till 16 February 1918. The Council of Lithuania was able to establish the sovereignty only in 1919, the first republic of Lithuania existed until 1940 when it was occupied by the Soviet Union. During the Soviet-German War, Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany, in 1944, as Germany was losing the war, Russia re-occupied Lithuania and established the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence, the restored Republic of Lithuania is a democratic republic, a member of both the European Union and NATO. Title, Grand Duke except for Mindaugas, who became king of Lithuania, dates are approximate because of scant written sources. The act of union with Poland was signed as early as 1385, however. The monarchs retained separate titles for both parts of the state, and their numbering was kept separately, the Jagiellon dynasty was a direct continuation of the Gediminids. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was established by Union of Lublin in 1569, the elected King of Poland was to be elected by Lithuanian noble families as a Grand Duke of Lithuania. The first ruler of the country was Sigismund II Augustus. Following the partitions in 1772,1793, and 1795, the commonwealth ceased to exist, there are some gaps in the timeline as it took a while to elect a new king. Title, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the Council of Lithuania declared independence on 16 February 1918 and invited Wilhelm of Urach to become king of Lithuania. The name of the state was the Kingdom of Lithuania, on 9 July 1918, the council declared that the Duke of Urach is to become King Mindaugas II of Lithuania. However, on 2 November, the council revoked this decision because of its unpopularity, the institution of President was created on 4 April 1919
President of Lithuania
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Incumbent
Dalia Grybauskaitė since 12 July 2009
President of Lithuania
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Presidential Standard
President of Lithuania
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c. 1236–1263
President of Lithuania
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1263–1265
5.
Prime Minister of Lithuania
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The Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of the Government of Lithuania, and is chosen appointed by the President of Lithuania with the assent of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas. Historically, the title of Prime Minister was also used between 1918 and 1940 and this was during the original Republic of Lithuania, which lasted from the collapse of the Russian Empire until the countrys annexation by the Soviet Union. Following the ultimatum in June 1940, the forces of Soviet Union entered Lithuania, Merkys soon resigned, allowing Paleckis to assume the post of acting President as well. The presidency of Merkys is not recognized as legitimate in modern Lithuania, parties LDDP TS / TS-LKD LLS LSDP Independent Lists of office-holders Official site
Prime Minister of Lithuania
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Incumbent
Algirdas Butkevičius since 13 December 2012
Prime Minister of Lithuania
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Coat of Arms of Lithuania
6.
Seimas
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The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, or simply the Seimas, is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. Its 141 members are elected for a term, with 71 elected in individual constituencies. A party must receive at least 5%, and a multi-party union at least 7%, following the elections in 2016, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union is the largest party in the Seimas, forming a ruling coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania. The Seimas traces its origins to the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Seimas after the restoration of independence of Lithuania convened in 1992. The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania exercises legislative power in Lithuania, the powers of the Seimas are defined by the Constitution and the laws of Lithuania. The primary function of the Seimas is to consider, adopt and issue laws, the Seimas also approves the state budget proposed by the Government, supervises its implementation, and sets state taxation. In foreign relations, the Seimas ratifies international treaties, decisions of the Seimas are taken in open simple majority votes. In some cases prescribed by law, a ballot is held. Constitutional laws are adopted by the Seimas in a majority vote, the list of constitutional laws needs to be approved in a 3/5 majority vote. Changes to the Constitution itself need to be approved in two separated by no less than three months, by a 2/3 majority. Changes to international borders of Lithuania need to be approved by 4/5 of the members of the Seimas, the Seimas approves or rejects the candidate for the Prime Minister nominated by the President. The Seimas must also give its assent to the newly formed Government, the Government remains accountable to the Seimas for its activities. If the Seimas expresses no-confidence in the Prime Minister or the Government as a whole, the Seimas appoints and dismisses justices and presidents of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, proposed by the President. In its legislative capacity, the Seimas also sets the basis for a judiciary institution advising and, to some extent, the Seimas has 141 members, elected to a four-year term in parallel voting, with 71 members elected in single-seat constituencies and 70 members elected by proportional representation. Ordinary elections to the Seimas take place on the second Sunday of October, parliament members in the 71 single-seat constituencies are elected in a majority vote, with a run-off held within 15 days, if necessary. The remaining 70 seats are allocated to the political parties using the largest remainder method. Parties normally need to receive at least 5% of the votes to be eligible for a seat, candidates take the seats allocated to their parties based on the preference lists submitted before the election and adjusted by preference votes given by the voters. Seven elections of the Seimas have been held in Lithuania since independence in 1990, Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania won the absolute majority of seats in the first election in 1992, the only time it has been achieved in independent Lithuania as of 2015
Seimas
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Seimas
Seimas
Seimas
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Seimas Palace
7.
Seimas Palace
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Seimas Palace is the seat of the Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament. It is located in Lithuanias capital Vilnius, work began on the construction of the first wing of the palace in 1976. The construction was supervised by architects Algimantas Nasvytis and Vytautas Nasvytis, in 1980,9717.37 square meters of the palace were completed. Later the building was expanded due to growing needs, the final phase of the palace complex consists of three wings, with the main, or first wing, housing the Parliament Hall, where legislation is passed. On March 11,1990, Lithuanias independence was re-established in the old Parliamen Hall, in 2006 work started on building a new Parliament Hall. On September 10,2007, the new Parliament Hall was officially opened, the old Parliament Hall will be used for celebratory sessions of the Seimas
Seimas Palace
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The main Building of Seimas Palace
Seimas Palace
Seimas Palace
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Old Parliament Hall
8.
Constitutional Court of Lithuania
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Since its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Vilnius, Gediminas Avenue. The main task of the court is judicial review and it may therefore declare the acts of the Seimas unconstitutional and thus render them ineffective. As such, it is similar to the Supreme Court of the United States. However, it differs from it and other courts in that it is not part of the regular judicial system. Most importantly, it does not serve as a court of appeals from lower courts or as a sort of “superappellate court” on any violation of national laws. Its jurisdiction is focused on issues, the integrity of the Constitution. The Court has played a role in the development of the Lithuanian legal system. On March 31,2004, it issued a ruling acknowledging the breach of the oath of office by the President Rolandas Paksas. He was removed from office by Seimas following the impeachment on April 6,2004, the ruling interpreted the Constitution as precluding a person, who was pleaded guilty for the breach of oath, from assuming any future position in public service, which requires taking an oath. The Court comprises nine justices, elected by the Seimas, for a nine-year non-renewable term of office, usually, notable legal scholars and highly experienced judges qualify for the position. The candidates are nominated by the Chairman of the Seimas, the President of Lithuania, the Seimas appoints the President of the Court from among the justices upon the nomination by the President of the state. Justices in the 2014-2017 term are, Dainius Žalimas, Vytas Milius, Vytautas Greičius, Danutė Jočienė, Pranas Kuconis, Gediminas Mesonis, Elvyra Baltutytė, Egidijus Šileikis, Algirdas Taminskas. 1993–1996 1996–1999 1999–2002 2002–2005 2005-2008 2008-2011 2011-2014 2014-2017 Judiciary Rule of law Rule According to Higher Law The official website of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania
Constitutional Court of Lithuania
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The Court's palace in the
Gediminas Avenue
Constitutional Court of Lithuania
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Lithuania
9.
Elections in Lithuania
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Elections in Lithuania gives information on elections and election results in Lithuania. Voters in Lithuania elect members of the parliament, the president, members of the councils and mayors. Lithuanian citizens can vote in mandatory or consultative referendums. 71 of the members in the 141-seat parliament, elected to a term, are elected in single-seat constituencies. The remaining 70 members are elected in an election based on proportional representation. The structure of the means that a large number of parties is represented in the parliament. The head of the state - the president - is elected to a term in a majority vote. The Lithuanian representatives in the European Parliament, currently numbering 11, are elected using proportional representation every five years,12 referendums have been organized in Lithuania, initiated by either citizens or the parliament. Of these, only four have seen the referendum question approved in a deemed to have taken place. Voting in elections is open to all citizens of Lithuania who are at least 18 years of age. Citizens of other European Union countries that permanently reside in Lithuania can vote in the Lithuanian elections to the European Parliament, voting in municipal elections is open to all residents of Lithuania, regardless of their citizenship. Voting process is organized by the Central Electoral Commission and subordinate electoral bodies and is monitored by local and international observers, the voters vote in a secret ballot and the elections have generally been assessed as free and fair, although allegations of irregularities have been common. The parliament has 141 members, elected to a four-year term, Lithuania exhibits a fragmented multi-party system, with a number of small parties in which coalition governments are common. Ordinary elections to the Seimas take place on the second Sunday of October, to be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 25 years old on the election day, not under allegiance to a foreign state and permanently reside in Lithuania. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the election are not eligible, also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments may not stand for election. This provision of the constitution had been ruled to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, Parliament members in the 71 single-seat constituencies are elected in a majority vote if the voter turnout in the constituency is at least 40%. If the voter turnout is less than 40%, the candidate with the most votes is declared a winner, if there are more than two candidates and no candidate wins in the first round, a second round of voting is held within 15 days. The two leading candidates from the first round are eligible for the round of voting
Elections in Lithuania
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Seimas building in Vilnius
Elections in Lithuania
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Lithuania
Elections in Lithuania
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Dalia Grybauskaitė casting a vote in the 2009 presidential election
Elections in Lithuania
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Posters urging to vote in the 2014 Election to the European Parliament
10.
Lithuanian presidential election, 2004
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Presidential elections were held in Lithuania in June 2004. In the first round on 13 June, the former President, Valdas Adamkus, Adamkus defeated Prunskienė in the second round on 27 June. The elections were held following the impeachment of President Rolandas Paksas, Paksas was impeached for allegedly leaking classified material, and granting citizenship for Russian businessman Jurij Borisov in exchange for financial support. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania ruled that Paksas could not seek re-election as president, the election coincided with the 2004 European Parliament election. Summary of the 13 June 2004 Lithuanian presidential election results
Lithuanian presidential election, 2004
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Nominee
Lithuanian presidential election, 2004
11.
Lithuanian presidential election, 2009
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A presidential election was held in Lithuania on 17 May 2009. A run-off election would have held on 7 June 2009 had one been necessary. European Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected with 69 percent of the valid vote, the Electoral Commission registered 14 candidates for participation in the presidential election. Candidates who dropped out of election before the start, speaker of the Seimas Arūnas Valinskas Algirdas Pilvelis Algimantas Matulevičius Zigmas Vaišvila Vidmantas Sadauskas Vytautas Kundrotas Jonas Jankauskas Vladimir Romanov - application rejected. Candidates confirmed for election with more than 20 thousands signatures
Lithuanian presidential election, 2009
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Nominee
Lithuanian presidential election, 2009
12.
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2008
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Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 12 October 2008, with a second round on 26 October in the constituencies where no candidate won a majority in the first round of voting. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election,71 in single-seat constituencies elected by majority vote, together with the elections, a referendum on extending the operation of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was held. The elections were won by a coalition, led by Andrius Kubilius of the Homeland Union. Kubilius was appointed the Prime Minister of a government together with National Resurrection Party, Liberal and Centre Union. The coalition had 80 seats in the 141-member Tenth Seimas, the 2004 parliamentary elections were held on 10 October 2004, with the run-off on 24 October. The Labour Party ended up as the largest party in the parliament, the government also included the New Union, the Labour Party and the Peasants and New Democratic Party Union. The coalition did not last the full term - New Union and Labour Party left in 2006, bringing down the government of Brazauskas, gediminas Kirkilas became the new Prime Minister and the coalition was joined by the Civic Democratic Party and the Liberal and Centre Union. The new coalition governed in minority, with the support from opposition parties, New Union rejoined the coalition in 2008. At the end of the term, Social Democrats were the largest parliamentary group with 38 members, Homeland Union was the largest opposition group in the parliament before the 2012 elections with 26 seats. Voting in the elections was open to all citizens of Lithuania who are at least 18-years-old, the first round took place on 12 October 2008. Members of the Seimas in the 71 single-seat constituencies were elected by a majority vote, the remaining 70 seats were allocated to the participating political parties using the largest remainder method, with a 5% threshold to enter the parliament. Candidates took the seats allocated to their parties based on the lists submitted before the elections. To be eligible for election, candidates had to be at least 25-years-old on the day, not under allegiance to a foreign state. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the elections were not eligible, also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments could not stand for election. The election campaign in 2008 took place in the context of overheating economy, following years of breakneck economic growth, the GDP was expected to shrink the following year. Inflation in 2006 exceeded the levels that would have allowed the country to adopt euro as a currency. Economy, inflation and the adoption of the euro were high on the campaign agenda, in addition, energy security featured prominently, with the referendum on continued operation of Ignalina nuclear power plant was to take place with the elections. Political advertisements on TV were banned before the elections, to reduce the influence of money in the elections, Homeland Union was hoping to return to power for the first time since 2000
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2008
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All 141 seats to the
Seimas 71 seats were needed for a majority
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2008
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Lithuania
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2008
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2008
13.
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2012
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Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 14 October 2012, with a second round on 28 October in the constituencies where no candidate won a majority in the first round of voting. All 141 seats in the Seimas were up for election,71 in single-seat constituencies elected by majority vote, together with the elections, a referendum on the construction of a new nuclear power plant was held. Homeland Union, which had led the government, suffered as a result of its deeply unpopular austerity policies. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party became the largest party in the Seimas after the elections, the Social Democrats and other left-wing parties had campaigned on the promise of ending the austerity, increasing the minimum wage, reducing unemployment and boosting public spending. The Social Democrats formed a coalition with the Labour Party, Order and Justice, the resulting government was led by Algirdas Butkevičius. The 2008 parliamentary elections were held on 12 October 2008, with the run-off on 26 October, the elections were won by the Homeland Union, which took 45 seats in the 141-member Tenth Seimas. The Homeland Union led a coalition in the parliament with the Liberal Movement, the Liberal and Centre Union and the National Resurrection Party. The populist National Resurrection Party splintered in 2010, with part of its representatives forming the Christian Party, while the remaining were absorbed by the Liberal, Social Democratic Party of Lithuania was the largest opposition party. The leader of the Homeland Union, Andrius Kubilius, was appointed the Prime Minister heading a coalition government. Despite the unpopularity of the measures and the public protests. Voting in the elections was open to all citizens of Lithuania who are at least 18-years-old, the first round took place on 9 October 2012. Members of the Seimas in the 71 single-seat constituencies were elected by a majority vote, the remaining 70 seats were allocated to the participating political parties using the largest remainder method, with a 5% threshold to enter the parliament. Candidates took the seats allocated to their parties based on the lists submitted before the elections. To be eligible for election, candidates had to be at least 25-years-old on the day, not under allegiance to a foreign state. Persons serving or due to serve a sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the elections are not eligible, also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments may not stand for election. In addition, a person who has removed from office through impeachment may not be elected. This provision was declared to be in violation of European Convention on Human Rights in 2011, the election campaign started in April 2012, when the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, officially announced the election date. Social Democrats, led by Algirdas Butkevičius, had been ahead in the polls for most of the year before the elections, populist Labour Party had consistently ranked second in the polls, led by Russian-born businessman-turned-politician Viktor Uspaskich
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2012
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2012
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All 141 seats in the
Seimas 71 seats needed for a majority
Lithuanian parliamentary election, 2012
14.
Referendums in Lithuania
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There have been twelve referendums in Lithuania since it declared independence from the Soviet Union on March 11,1990. Because of strict requirements only four referendums were successful, older Lithuanian laws required that more than a half of all registered voters would vote in support of a proposal for it to become a binding obligation to the government. In 2002, this requirement was lowered to one third of all registered voters, the procedure to call for a referendums is also challenging. The initiators need to present 300,000 signatures of registered voters in three months or the Seimas, Parliament of Lithuania, has to approve it by a fourth of all the members of the Seimas. Despite the difficulties, the idea to call referendums is very popular among the politicians, in anticipation of referendum regarding the membership in the European Union, the Law on Referendum was passed on June 4,2002. The law prescribes that the voting is conducted based on democratic principles, universal, direct, there are two types of referendums, mandatory and consultative. The law lowered the requirements for number of votes needed to approve the resolution, for consultative referendums, a half of all registered voters need to participate and a half of those participating need to vote in favor. Seimas then have a month to decide on the resolution, for mandatory referendums, instead of a half of all registered voters it now demands one third. In addition, more than a half of all voters need to participate, to amend Chapter 1 and 14 of the Constitution it requires approval of more than half of all the registered voters. The decision on the participation in international organizations will be adopted if it has been approved by more than one half of the voters who have participated in the referendum. This exception was adopted on February 25,2003, just 2.5 months before the referendum on the European Union, the law also lowered the number of Seimas votes needed to announce a referendum from one third to one fourth. However, the requirements for citizen initiated referendum are the same, the successful referendums are marked in light green, while failed ones are in pink. The color denotes which number was used to determine the outcome, two referendums failed on two counts, they not only did not receive support from more than 50% of all registered voters, but also less than 50% of the voters came to vote. They are deemed not to have taken place, nuo 1991 m. iki šiol paskelbtų referendumų rezultatai, Microsoft Word Document, Seimas. Law on Referendum, Seimas, June 4,2002, Law on Amendment of Chapters 7,11,13,35,43,50,51,54,78 and on Adding Chapter 78 to Law on Referendum, Seimas, February 25,2003, No. Audrius Bačiulis, Referendumas - būdas siekti populiarumo, Veidas, July 18,2002, No.29
Referendums in Lithuania
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Lithuania
15.
Administrative divisions of Lithuania
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This article is about the administrative divisions of Lithuania. In the earliest stages of the formation of the Lithuanian state, there had been several lands, such as Nalšia, Deltuva and Lietuva and they were ruled by regional dukes. When King Mindaugas unified the state, he killed, expelled, the lands were either added to rulers domain or granted to members of his family. As the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expended into Slavic lands, the title to the acquired principalities was given to the Grand Dukes offspring or his other relatives. For example, Mindaugas granted Black Ruthenia with center in Navahrudak to his son Vaišvilkas, Gediminas sent his brother Fiodor to Kiev and this system had major disadvantages, for the principalities remained semi-independent with loose ties to the central government. Rulers of these principalities were powerful rivals to the Grand Duke, in early 15th century Vytautas the Great initiated administrative reforms. He replaced regional dukes and princes with trustworthy nobles who depended on the favor of the Grand Duke and this marked the rise of Lithuanian nobility. In 1413 Union of Horodło was signed, Vilnius and Trakai Voivodeships were created in ethnic Lithuanian lands, the Eldership of Samogitia had a special semi-autonomous status. Former Slavic principalities and duchies largely preserved their old political, social and they were only slowly incorporated into administration of the Grand Duchy. The Kiev Voivodeship was established in 1471, other five voivodeships were established between 1504 and 1514, the Smolensk Voivodeship, the largest of all, was established in 1508, but was lost to the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1514. Voivodeships, ruled by appointed officials – voivodes, were subdivided into powiats. Major administrative reforms took place in 1564–1566 in preparation for the second Statute of Lithuania, the entire territory of the Grand Duchy, with exception of Samogitia, was divided into 12 voivodeships. This left Lithuania with eight voivodeships and one eldership, After the Livonian War and this administrative division remained without any major changes until the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century. Under the Russian Empire, the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania was divided into governorates, such system was introducing in Russia during the reforms of 1775. The first governorates, Vilna Governorate and Slonim Governorate, were established after the partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Just a year later, on December 12,1796, they were merged into one governorate, called Lithuania Governorate, in 1801 Lithuania Governorate was split into Lithuania-Vilna Governorate and Lithuania-Grodno Governorate. Forty years later the word Lithuania was dropped from the two names and official maps of Europe, the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania became known as the Northwestern Krai. In 1843 another administrative reform took place, creating Kovno Governorate out of seven districts of the Vilna Governorate
Administrative divisions of Lithuania
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Lithuania
16.
Counties of Lithuania
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The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties, all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities,9 city municipalities,43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities, each municipality is then divided into elderates. This division was created in 1994 and slightly modified in 2000, on 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished, and since that date, counties remains as the territorial and statistical units. Until 2010 counties were administered by county governors appointed by the government in Vilnius. Their primary duty was to ensure that the municipalities obey the laws and they did not have great powers vested in them, and so it was suggested that 10 counties are too much for Lithuania as the two smallest counties administer only four municipalities. Modern apskritys should not be confused with apskritys that existed in the independent Lithuania during the interwar period, at that time Lithuania had a two-step administrative division, apskritys that were subdivided into valsčius. Lithuania now has a division, counties, municipalities. See subdivisions of Lithuania for details and this map shows counties as well as municipalities. Eight city municipalities and two municipalities are marked by numbers, Administrative divisions of Lithuania Municipalities Elderships
Counties of Lithuania
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Lithuania
17.
Municipalities of Lithuania
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Lithuania is divided into three layers of administrative divisions. The first-level division consists of 10 counties and these are sub-divided into 60 municipalities, which in turn are further sub-divided into over 500 smaller groups, known as elderships. At the end of its tenure as a Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuanias administrative divisions consisted of 44 regions,12 cities,80 towns,19 settlements, the reform of this system was an immediate concern for the new government. The Constitution of Lithuania, ratified in 1992, delegated the power of establishing future administrative units to the Lithuanian Parliament, accordingly, the Seimas passed two fundamental laws, a 1993 law on government representation and a 1994 law specifying the territorial-administrative units and their boundaries. The current system of a set of municipalities under 10 counties was codified by 1995, several changes were made in 2000, resulting in 60 municipalities. Ordinary municipal councilors are elected every four years from electoral lists using proportional representation, the mayor, who is a member of the council, is elected directly by the residents in a majority vote. Before 2015, the mayors were elected by the municipal councils, the following map shows counties as well as municipalities. Seven city municipalities and three municipalities are marked by numbers, administrative divisions of Lithuania Counties Elderships. Seniūnaitija Cities Towns Notes General Specific
Municipalities of Lithuania
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Lithuania
18.
Elderships of Lithuania
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A seniūnija is the smallest administrative division of Lithuania. An eldership could either be a small region consisting of few villages, one single town. Elderships vary in size and population depending on their place and nature, a few elderships make up a municipality. Šilainiai and Dainava are the most populous elderates, with population counts over 70,000, elderships manage small scale local matters, such as repairing pavements, dirt roads, keeping records on all families living in the eldership. Its premise is that unlike with higher administrative divisions, an elder could have time to talk to every person in the eldership who wants to, modern Lithuania is divided into 10 counties,60 municipalities, and 546 elderships. In cities, an elder is elected to each eldership district, note, historically the term was used for significantly bigger administrative units, e. g. Eldership of Samogitia. Terms Ward Parish Subdistrict Lithuania Administrative divisions of Lithuania Counties Municipalities Seniūnaitija Cities Towns A GUIDE TO THE LITHUANIAN LEGAL SYSTEM AND RESEARCH
Elderships of Lithuania
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Seniunijos of Lithuania
19.
Foreign relations of Lithuania
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Lithuania became a member of the United Nations on September 18,1991, and is a signatory to a number of its organizations and other international agreements. It is also a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO and its adjunct North Atlantic Coordinating Council, the Council of Europe, Lithuania gained membership in the World Trade Organization on May 31,2001. It also seeks membership in the OECD and other Western organizations, Lithuania maintains foreign diplomatic missions in 94 countries on six continents and consular posts in two countries that are not represented by an embassy. Lithuanias liberal zero-option citizenship law has substantially erased tensions with its neighbors, Lithuania has established diplomatic relations with 176 countries. Talks continue over a boundary dispute with Latvia, primarily concerning oil exploration rights, however. There are ongoing popular demands to formally condemn the crimes committed by the Soviet regime, Lithuania has an embassy in Moscow. Russia has an embassy in Vilnius, with consulates in Klaipeda, ambassador to Russian Federation is Remigijus Motuzas, ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania is Alexander Udaltsov. Lithuania is in warm and good relations with Estonia, Latvia takes the 1st place on the list of Lithuanian investments abroad. Diplomatic relations established, 1991-10-05 Latvia has an embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania has an embassy in Riga. The two states share 588 kilometres of common border, both countries are full members of the European Union. Lithuania has an embassy in Warsaw and a general in Sejny. Poland has an embassy in Vilnius and a consulate in Klaipėda. There are around 200,000 Poles living in Lithuania and around 15,000 ethnic Lithuanians living in Poland, both countries are full members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The countries share a border of 103 km. Lithuania concluded the treaty of friendship with Poland in April 1994, Lithuania is also an active member in the cooperation between Northern Europe countries. Lithuania is a member of Baltic Council, since its establishment in 1993, Baltic Council is a permanent organisation of international cooperation, located in Tallinn. It operates through the Baltic Assembly and Baltic Council of Ministers, Lithuania also cooperates with Nordic and other two Baltic countries through NB8 cooperation format. The similar format, called NB6 unites Nordic and Baltic countries members of EU, the main goal of NB6 cooperation is to discuss and agree on positions before presenting them in the Council of the European Union and the meetings of the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers
Foreign relations of Lithuania
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Lithuania
20.
Unitary state
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The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Of the 193 UN member states,165 of them are governed as unitary states, unitary states are contrasted with federal states. In a unitary state, sub-national units are created and abolished, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an example of a unitary state. Many unitary states have no areas possessing a degree of autonomy, in such countries, sub-national regions cannot decide their own laws. Examples are the Republic of Ireland and the Kingdom of Norway, in federal states, the sub-national governments share powers with the central government as equal actors through a written constitution, to which the consent of both is required to make amendments. This means that the units have a right of existence. The United States of America is an example of a federal state, under the U. S. Constitution, powers are shared between the federal government and the states
Unitary state
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Unitary states
21.
Semi-presidential system
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A semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of a state. There are two subtypes of semi-presidentialism, premier-presidentialism and president-parliamentarism. Under the premier-presidential system, the minister and cabinet are exclusively accountable to parliament. The president chooses the prime minister and cabinet, but only the parliament may remove them from office with a vote of no confidence, the president does not have the right to dismiss the prime minister or the cabinet. However, in cases, the president can circumvent this limitation by exercising the discretionary power of dissolving the assembly. This subtype is used in Burkina Faso, France, Georgia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Niger, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. Under the president-parliamentary system, the minister and cabinet are dually accountable to the president. The president chooses the prime minister and the cabinet but must have the support of the parliament majority for his choice. In order to remove a prime minister or the cabinet from power. This form of semi-presidentialism is much closer to pure presidentialism and it is used in Armenia, Georgia between 2004 and 2013, Mozambique, Namibia, Russia, Taiwan and Ukraine between 1996 and 2005, and again from 2010 to 2014. It was used in Germany during the Weimarer Republik, as the regime between 1919 and 1933 is called unofficially. The powers that are divided between president and prime minister can vary greatly between countries and it is up to the president to decide, how much autonomy he leaves to his prime minister to act on his own. Semi-presidential systems may experience periods in which the President and the Prime Minister are from differing political parties. This is called cohabitation, a term originated in France when the situation first arose in the 1980s. In most cases, cohabitation results from a system in which the two executives are not elected at the time or for the same term. For example, in 1981, France elected both a Socialist president and legislature, which yielded a Socialist premier, but whereas the presidents term of office was for seven years, the National Assembly only served for five. When, in the 1986 legislative election, the French people elected a right-of-centre Assembly, however, in 2000, amendments to the French Constitution reduced the length of the French Presidents term from seven to five years. This has significantly lowered the chances of occurring, as parliamentary
Semi-presidential system
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Presidential republics with a full
presidential system.
22.
Representative democracy
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Representative democracy is a type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy. Representative democracy is often presented as the most efficient form of democracy possible in mass societies and it arguably allows for efficient ruling by a sufficiently small number of people on behalf of the larger number. Government efficiency can be judged based on metric of cost effectiveness, representatives voting on behalf of the people allows for a monetary benefit as there is lessened use of polling stations, vote counters, etc. The government is responsible for paying for the wages of the representatives. This system of governance is also time efficient as decisions can be made by a select few and it is a system in which people elect their lawmakers, who are then held accountable to them for their activity within government. It has been described by political theorists including Robert A Dahl, Gregory Houston. In it the power is in the hands of the representatives who are elected by the people in elections. Representatives are elected by the public, as in elections for the national legislature. Elected representatives may hold the power to other representatives, presidents, or other officers of the government or of the legislature. The constitution may also provide for some deliberative democracy or direct popular measures, however, these are not always binding and usually require some legislative action—legal power usually remains firmly with representatives. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him, their opinion, high respect, their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs, and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man. These he does not derive from your pleasure, no, nor from the law and they are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his only, but his judgment. The Roman Republic was the first government in the world to have a representative government. In Britain, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments, the first, in 1258, stripped the King of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from the towns. Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England pioneered some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy culminating in the Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution led to the creation of a new Constitution of the United States in 1787
Representative democracy
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Countries designated "electoral democracies" in Freedom House's 2015 survey "Freedom in the World", covering the year 2014.
23.
Republic
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It is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their ideology, composition, in the classical and medieval period of Europe, many states were fashioned on the Roman Republic, which referred to the governance of the city of Rome, between it having kings and emperors. The Italian medieval and Renaissance political tradition, today referred to as humanism, is sometimes considered to derive directly from Roman republicans such as Sallust. Republics were not equated with classical democracies such as Athens, but had a democratic aspect, Republics became more common in the Western world starting in the late 18th century, eventually displacing absolute monarchy as the most common form of government in Europe. In modern republics, the executive is legitimized both by a constitution and by popular suffrage, for instance, Article IV of the United States Constitution guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government. The term originates as the Latin translation of Greek word politeia, cicero, among other Latin writers, translated politeia as res publica and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as republic. The term politeia can be translated as form of government, polity, or regime, and is therefore not always a word for a specific type of regime as the modern word republic is. And also amongst classical Latin, the term republic can be used in a way to refer to any regime. In medieval Northern Italy, a number of city states had commune or signoria based governments, in the late Middle Ages, writers, such as Giovanni Villani, began writing about the nature of these states and the differences from other types of regime. They used terms such as libertas populi, a free people, the terminology changed in the 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of Ancient Rome caused writers to prefer using classical terminology. To describe non-monarchical states writers, most importantly Leonardo Bruni, adopted the Latin phrase res publica. While Bruni and Machiavelli used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term can quite literally be translated as public matter. It was most often used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, in subsequent centuries, the English word commonwealth came to be used as a translation of res publica, and its use in English was comparable to how the Romans used the term res publica. Notably, during The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the word commonwealth was the most common term to call the new monarchless state, likewise, in Polish, the term was translated as rzeczpospolita, although the translation is now only used with respect to Poland. Presently, the term republic commonly means a system of government which derives its power from the rather than from another basis. After the classical period, during the Middle Ages, many cities developed again. The modern type of itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world. Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the era that are today still called republics
Republic
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Vaishali was the
capital of the
Vajjian Confederacy, an early republic.
Republic
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A map of the
Roman Republic
Republic
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Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,
Neptune offers the wealth of the sea to Venice, 1748–50. This painting is an allegory of the power of the Republic of
Venice.
Republic
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Beginning of the Republic of
Metz. Election of the first Head-Alderman in 1289, by Auguste Migette.
Metz was then a
free imperial city of the
Holy Roman Emperor.
24.
Head of state
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A head of state is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. In some countries, the head of state is a figurehead with limited or no executive power, while in others. Former French president Charles de Gaulle, while developing the current Constitution of France, some academic writers discuss states and governments in terms of models. An independent nation state normally has a head of state, the non-executive model, in which the head of state has either none or very limited executive powers, and mainly has a ceremonial and symbolic role. In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the chief executive officer, heading the executive branch of the state. This accountability and legitimacy requires that someone be chosen who has a majority support in the legislature and it also gives the legislature the right to vote down the head of government and their cabinet, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives. In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a head of state within a parliamentary system, usually, the king had the power of declaring war without previous consent of the parliament. For example, under the 1848 constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, the Statuto Albertino—the parliamentary approval to the government appointed by the king—was customary, so, Italy had a de facto parliamentarian system, but a de jure presidential system. These officials are excluded completely from the executive, they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, hence their states governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model head of state styles of His/Her Majestys Government or His/Her Excellencys Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist, the constitution explicitly vests all executive power in the Cabinet, who is chaired by the prime minister and responsible to the Diet. The emperor is defined in the constitution as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people and he is a ceremonial figurehead with no independent discretionary powers related to the governance of Japan. Today, the Speaker of the Riksdag appoints the prime minister, Cabinet members are appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the prime minister. In contrast, the contact the President of Ireland has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the taoiseach to the president. However, he or she has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the Department of the Taoiseach. The president does, however, hold limited reserve powers, such as referring a bill to the court to test its constitutionality. The most extreme non-executive republican Head of State is the President of Israel, semi-presidential systems combine features of presidential and parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the president and the legislature. The constitution of the Fifth French Republic provides for a minister who is chosen by the president
Head of state
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Sixteen heads of state meeting at a
UNASUR -
BRICS summit in July 2014.
Head of state
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President
Pranab Mukherjee, head of state of
the Republic of India from July 2012
Head of state
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Two contemporary heads of state who are
constitutional monarchs, but with no political power: Emperor
Akihito of Japan (left), and King
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (right.)
Head of state
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Charles de Gaulle, President and head of state of the
French Fifth Republic June 1958 – January 1959
25.
Head of government
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The term head of government is often differentiated from the term head of state, as they may be separate positions, individuals, and/or roles depending on the country. In parliamentary systems, including constitutional monarchies, the head of government is the de facto leader of the government. For example, in the United Kingdom, the prime minister advises the Queen on the appointment of the cabinet, advice she is required to accept. On the other hand, the Queens long service as the head of state enables her to provide the prime minister with information and insight into many matters to better run the government. However, because the United Kingdom is a monarchy, the Prime Minister uses his or her own discretion regarding whether or not to follow the Queens advice. The Queen also is entitled to appoint a new Prime Minister, in presidential republics or in absolute monarchies, the head of state is also usually the head of government. The relationship between that leader and the government, however, can vary greatly, ranging from separation of powers to autocracy, in semi-presidential systems, the head of government may answer to both the head of state and the legislature, with the specifics provided by each countrys constitution. A modern example is the present French government, which originated as the French Fifth Republic in 1958, in France, the president, the head of state, appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government. In some cases, the head of state may represent one political party, in this case, known as cohabitation, the prime minister, along with the cabinet, controls domestic policy, with the presidents influence is largely restricted to foreign affairs. In directorial systems, the executive responsibilities of the head of government are spread among a group of people, a prominent example is the Swiss Federal Council, where each member of the council heads a department and also votes on proposals relating to all departments. A common title for many heads of government is prime minister, various constitutions use different titles, and even the same title can have various multiple meanings, depending on the constitutional order and political system of the state in question. In addition to prime minister, titles used for the democratic model, some of these titles relate to governments below the national level. Have been used by various Empires, Kingdoms and Princely States of India as a title for the Prime Minister, maltese, In Malta, the head of government is Prim Ministru. In this case, the prime minister serves at the pleasure of the monarch, some such titles are diwan, mahamantri, pradhan, wasir or vizier. However, just because the head of state is the de jure dominant position does not mean that he/she will not always be the de facto political leader, in some cases, the head of state is a figurehead whilst the head of the government leads the ruling party. In some cases a head of government may even pass on the title in hereditary fashion, the ability to vote down legislative proposals of the government. Control over or ability to vote down fiscal measures and the budget, all of these requirements directly impact the Head of governments role. Many parliamentary systems require ministers to serve in parliament, while others ban ministers from sitting in parliament, heads of government are typically removed from power in a parliamentary system by Resignation, following, Defeat in a general election
Head of government
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The heads of government of five members of the
Commonwealth of Nations at the 1944
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference. From left to right,
Mackenzie King (
Canada),
Jan Smuts (
South Africa),
Winston Churchill (
United Kingdom),
Peter Fraser (
New Zealand), and
John Curtin (
Australia).
26.
Multi-party system
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First-past-the-post requires concentrated areas of support for large representation in the legislature whereas proportional representation better reflects the range of a populations views. Proportional systems have multi-member districts with more than one elected from a given district to the same legislative body. Duvergers Law states that the number of political parties is one plus the number of seats in a district. In these countries, usually no single party has a majority by itself. Instead, multiple political parties form coalitions for the purpose of developing power blocks for governing, a system where only two parties have the possibility of winning an election is called two-party system. A system where three parties have a realistic possibility of winning an election or forming a coalition is sometimes called a Third-party system. Usually this is because the electoral system penalises the third party, in the 2010 elections, the Liberal Democrats gained 23% of the total vote but won less than 10% of the seats due to the First-Past-The-Post electoral system. Despite this, they still had enough seats to form coalitions with one of the two parties, or to make deals in order to gain their support. An example is the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition formed after the 2010 general election, another is the Lib-Lab pact during Prime Minister James Callaghans Minority Labour Government, when Labour lost its three-seat majority in 1977, the pact fell short of a full coalition. Unlike a one-party system, a multi-party system encourages the general constituency to form distinct, officially recognized groups. Each party competes for votes from the enfranchised constituents, a multi-party system prevents the leadership of a single party from controlling a single legislative chamber without challenge. If the government includes an elected Congress or Parliament, the parties may share power according to proportional representation or the first-past-the-post system, in proportional representation, each party wins a number of seats proportional to the number of votes it receives. In first-past-the-post, the electorate is divided into a number of districts and this gravitation is known as Duvergers law. Proportional representation, on the hand, does not have this tendency. But, recent coalition governments, such as that in the U. K. represent two-party systems rather than multi-party systems and this is regardless of the number of parties in government. A two-party system requires voters to align themselves in large blocs, some theories argue that this allows centrists to gain control. On the other hand, if there are multiple parties, each with less than a majority of the vote. This also promotes centrism, as well as promoting coalition-building skills while discouraging polarization, coalition Polarized pluralism Political organisation Ingroups and outgroups
Multi-party system
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Indian state governments led by various political parties and coalitions
. Retrieved 23 August 2017. 
