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City Council

City council

A city council is the most common style of legislative government in a city or town. In some Australian jurisdictions, a 'city council' is an informal way of refering to local government areas in built-up areas. City councils generally consist of several (usually somewhere between 5 and 50, depending on the city's size) elected aldermen or councillors. Other common titles for members of the council include councilmember or councilman/woman. In some cities, the mayor is a voting member of the council who serves as chairman; in others, the mayor is the city's independent chief executive (or strong mayor) with veto power over city council legislation. In larger cities the council may elect other executive positions as well, such as a council president and speaker. The council generally functions as a parliamentary or congressional style legislative body, proposing bills, holding votes, and passing laws to help govern the city. The role of the mayor in the council varies depending on whether or not the city uses council-manager government or mayor-council government, and by the nature of the statutory authority given to it by state law, city charter, or municipal ordinance. There is also a mayor pro tem councilmember who is in line to become the mayor within an election period because mayors are only mayors for one year at a time. In some cities a different name for the municipal legislature is used. In San Francisco, for example, it is known as the Board of Supervisors because San Francisco is a consolidated city-county and the California constitution requires each county to have a Board of Supervisors. ja:市町村議会

Legislative

A legislature is a governmental deliberative assembly with the power to adopt laws. Legislatures are known by many names, including: parliament, congress, diet and national assembly. Important part of the US In parliamentary systems of government, the legislature is formally supreme and appoints the executive. In presidential systems of government, the legislature is considered a power branch which is equal to, and independent of, the executive. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise taxes and adopt the budget and other money bills. The consent of the legislature is also often required to ratify treaties and declare war.

Chambers

The primary component of a legislature is one or more chambers or houses: assemblies that debate and vote upon bills. Most legislatures are either bicameral or unicameral:
- A unicameral legislature is the simplest kind of law-making body and has only one house.
- A bicameral legislature possesses two separate chambers, usually described as an upper house and a lower house, which may differ in duties, powers, and methods for the selection of members. In most parliamentary systems, the lower house is the most powerful house while the upper house is merely a chamber of advice or review!!!! However in presidential systems the powers of the two houses are often similar or equal. In federations it is typical for the upper house to represent the component states. For this purpose the upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments, as is the case of Germany and was the case in the pre-19 century United States, or to be elected according to a formula that grants disproportionate representation to smaller states, as is the case today in Australia and the United States. Historically, as well as bicameral and unicameral bodies, there have also been rare instances of tricameral legislatures. Many legislatures are said to include not just one or more houses but also the head of state. This is because in most systems it is necessary that, after being approved by the house or houses of the legislature, a bill receive the assent of the head of state before it can become law. This may be the case even if, as is the case in many parliamentary systems, the assent of the head of state is merely a formality and will not be withheld. It is also common, however, for the head of state not to be considered a formal part of the legislature, even if they have the power to veto laws. The British Parliament formally consists of the Crown, and two houses; similarly, the Irish Oireachtas consists officially of the President and two houses. In contrast, the United States Congress consists only of its two houses and does not officially include the US president, despite the fact that he wields a veto.

Competences

The power of legislatures varies widely from country to country. Rubber stamp legislature is a derogatory name for a legislature that has no real power but simply approves, by unanimous or near unanimous votes, bills put before it by other institutions. For example, the legislatures of many Communist states were often derided as mere 'rubber stamps' for decisions of the ruling party. The term is not usually used to describe legislatures of parliamentary systems. Although the final draft of legislation introduced by the government almost always passes, these legislatures are generally not labelled "rubber stamps" because legislators are involved in the drafting and amendment of bills.

List of titles of legislatures

National
- Parliament
- Congress
- Diet
- National Assembly

- Althing — Iceland
- Assembleia da República — Portugal
- Bundestag — Germany
- Cortes Generales — Spain
- Eduskunta or Riksdag — Finland
- Federal Assembly — Russia, Switzerland
- Folketing — Denmark
- Knesset — Israel
- Legislative Yuan — Republic of China/Taiwan
- Majles Al-Ummah — Kuwait
- Oireachtas — Republic of Ireland
- Riigikogu — Estonia
- Riksdag — Sweden
- Rajya Sabha/Lok Sabha — India
- Sabor — Croatia
- Saeima — Latvia
- Seimas — Lithuania
- Sejm — Poland
- Skupština — Serbia and Montenegro
- Estates-General or Staten Generaal — Netherlands
- Storting — Norway
- Tynwald — Isle of Man
- Verkhovna Rada — Ukraine Historical
- States-General
- Dáil — Irish Republic (1919-1922)
- Volkskammer — East Germany (1949-1990) State
- List of state legislatures of the United States — United States
- Landtag — Germany, Austria

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal legislative body in a town or city with many jurisdictions. Members of Chicago's city council, for example, are known by the title of alderman. The title is derived from the Anglo-Saxon position of Ealdorman, literally meaning "elder man", and was used by the chief nobles presiding over shires. Under the Municipal Reform Act 1835, municipal borough corporations consisted of councillors and aldermen. Aldermen would be elected not by the electorate, but by the council (including the outgoing aldermen), for a term of six years, which allowed a party that narrowly lost an election to retain control by choosing aldermen. This was altered in 1910 to not allow outgoing aldermen to vote. Aldermen were finially abolished under the Local Government Act 1972. Councils can still create honorary aldermen, often a reward for long service. This award is used much more often in Northern Ireland than in England. In the Corporation of London, aldermen are elected for each ward, by the regular electorate, and until recently for life. To be a candidate to be Lord Mayor of London, it is necessary to be an alderman and to have been a sheriff. In the Republic of Ireland the title was used by the first person elected in a multi-seat local government ward. The Local Government Act of 2001 abolished the title as part of a modernisation of local government, and as such none of the Councillors elected in the local elections of 2004 hold the title Alderman.

Councillor

:For information on a person who provides counsel or advice, see counselor A councillor is a member of a council (such as a city council), particularly in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other parts of the Commonwealth. The US equivalent is councilman or councilwoman.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, all local authorities are overseen by elected councillors. These include: #unitary authorities #county councils, #district, borough or city councils, #civil parish, town or community councils. Councillors are typically elected as members of political parties. Once elected they are meant to represent all their constituents and not just those who voted for them. They are bound by a code of conduct enforced by standards boards.

Renumeration

Most councillors are not full time professionals, although most councils do pay them a basic allowance and out of pocket expenses. In addition special responsibility allowances are paid to the small minority of councillors who carry out more senior roles. The basic allowance (and special responsibility allowance) are theoretically paid to compensate councillors for taking time off from their full time job to carry out council duties. Parish, town or community councillors are volunteers who are not normally renumerated.

Regional government

The London Assembly is not regarded as a local authority but a regional devolved assembly and its members are refered to as Assembly Members. The National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish Parliament are regarded as national authorities with their authority being devolved from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. All such members are renumerated on a full-time basis.

Mayor

A mayor (from the Latin maīor, meaning "larger","greater") is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs as to the powers and responsibilities of a mayor, as well as the means of becoming mayor. The French form of the word is maire. In Germany and the Low Countries the chief town magistrate is called "burgomaster" (G. Bürgermeister, Du. burgemeester; French-speaking parts of Belgium use bourgmestre), in Italy sindaco, in Bohemia starosta and in Spain alcalde, a term derived from a Moorish post. In the United States, mayors are usually elected by the citizens of a locality for a fixed term. They generally share power with a local legislative body, such as a city council. Mayors may also function as the head of the city council, sometimes elected as mayor by the council rather the citizens, while day-to-day operations of the city are delegated to a professional city manager. In Salt Lake County in the U.S. state of Utah there is a county mayor. Additionally, the chief executives of all counties in Tennessee and Hawaii are referred to as "mayors". However, these persons are elected, not appointed, to that office. In Canada mayors are usually elected at large by the citizens of a municipality for a fixed term. In most provinces, the Mayor operates under a weak-mayor system in which the Mayor sits as a member of the municipal council. In such systems, the Mayor has one vote, in common with all other members of Council and no executive powers. In rural municipalities, the head of Council may have the title reeve as opposed to mayor. In several other countries, mayors are often appointed by some branch of the federal or regional government. In some cities, subdivisions such as arrondissements or boroughs may have their own mayors; this is the case, for example, with Paris and Mexico City. In the United Kingdom, the office of Mayor has long been ceremonial. Directly-elected mayors with executive powers were introduced in some areas from 2000. In London, the ceremonial Lord Mayor of London, representing the City of London, should be distinguished from the elected Mayor of London who is responsible for the whole of Greater London. Thirty cities in the United Kingdom have Lord Mayors (or Lord Provosts in Scotland). In Finland, there are no mayors, although plans have been floated to institute the office in Tampere. The highest executive official is not democratically elected, but appointed to a public office by the city council, and is called simply kaupunginjohtaja "city manager" or kunnanjohtaja "municipal manager", depending on whether the municipality feels like calling itself a city. The term pormestari "mayor", from Swedish borgmästare "master of the castle" confusingly refers to the highest official in the registry office, not the city manager. In addition, pormestari is also a title, which may be given for distinguished service in the post of the city manager. The city manager of Helsinki is called ylipormestari, which translates to "Chief Mayor", for historical reasons.

History

In spite of its etymology, "mayor" was not a Roman office. It came into use in the large entourages that followed the barbarian leaders who succeeded to the power of the Emperor of the West. The male officer who governed a king or duke's peripatetic household was the major domus, the "major domo". In the households of the Merovingian Frankish kings, the major domus, or praefectus palatii ("prefect of the palace"), gained such power that, in the person of Pippin of Herstal, he ended by evicting his master. He was the "mayor of the palace".

Veto

The word veto comes from Latin and literally means I forbid. It is used to denote that a certain party has the right to unilaterally stop a certain piece of legislation. A veto thus gives unlimited power to stop changes, but not to adopt them. The veto originated with the Roman tribunes who had the power to unilaterally refuse legislation passed by the Roman senate.

Westminster Systems

In Westminster Systems and most constitutional monarchies, the power to veto legislation by withholding the Royal Assent is a rarely-used reserve power of the monarch, representative of the monarch, or figurehead president who has replaced the monarch. In Australia, the Queen may veto a law that has been given royal assent by the Governor-General within one year of the legislation being assented to. The Queen has a similar power in Canada.

United States

Article One of the United States Constitution requires that all bills or other items of legislation passed by both houses of Congress be presented to the President for his approval. If he returns a bill to Congress within ten days (excluding Sundays) of its presentation to him, the bill does not become law. A two-thirds majority of both houses can adopt a law despite a presidential veto. Likewise, if the President takes no action during this period and Congress remains in session it becomes a law as if he had signed it. However, if Congress has adjourned for the session prior to the expiration of the ten-day period and the President does not wish to sign the bill, he may take no action and the bill will be considered vetoed without possibility of override and without the President having to list his objections. This latter practice is called a pocket veto. The legislative veto, by which Congress had nullified certain exercises of powers the body had delegated to the executive branch, was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in INS v. Chadha. The veto power in the United States Constitution was derived from the British method of Royal Assent. On April 5, 1792 President George Washington vetoed a bill designed to apportion representatives among the several states. This is the first time the presidential veto was used in the United States. The Congress first overrode a presidential veto on March 3, 1845. See also: List of U.S. presidential vetoes.

Line-item veto

Typically, a veto applies to an entire piece of legislation. Some states in the United States have granted their governors the additional power of a line-item veto. This allows them to veto or "cross out" only certain parts of the legislation, while allowing the rest to pass. Although details vary, it is not uncommon for a piece of legislation that has undergone a line item veto to be returned to the legislative body for final approval; they can either accept the amended legislation or decide not to pass it at all in its new form. The line item veto power has been controversial. Perhaps its most famous abuse was when Governor of Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson, crossed out individual letters in a bill so that the remaining words comprised entirely different sentences, effectively introducing a new provision into the bill. Some states permit line item vetoes only in "appropriation bills," or bills granting money for the various government departments. The United States Congress passed a law authorizing the President to strike out up to three items of appropriation in a single bill, but the Supreme Court ruled this procedure unconstitutional in Clinton v. City of New York .

Poland

In the constitution of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Poland, there was an institution called the liberum veto. All bills had to pass the Sejm (Parliament) by unanimous consent, and if any legislator voted nay on anything, this not only vetoed that bill but dissolved the legislature itself.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the government cannot stop legislation by itself, but 50'000 voters or eight cantons can demand that a law enacted or certain treaties ratified by the Federal Assembly be made subject to a binding popular referendum. When this constitutional rule was introduced in the 19th century, it was widely referred to as the "people's veto".

United Nations

Main article: UN Security Council Veto Power In the United Nations Security Council, the five permanent members (the United States, Russia, the People's Republic of China, France and the United Kingdom) have veto power. If any of these countries votes against a proposal it is rejected, even if all of the other member countries vote in favor.

Other meanings

[http://www.veto.org Veto] is also the name of a former student society from Delft in the Netherlands Category:Government Category:Latin legal phrases ja:拒否権

President

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"). Originally, the term usually referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or meeting (i.e. chairman); but today it most commonly refers to an official with executive powers. Among other things, President is today a common title for the head of state of a republic, whether popularly elected, chosen by the legislature or a special electoral college. It is also often adopted by dictators. The bulk of this article is dedicated to this usage by heads of state. For more on other kinds of presidents, see Non-Governmental Presidents, below. For more on the usage of term "president", see President (history of the term). President (history of the term) (1789-1797)]]

History

Though there had been several republican countries in the past, it was the United States of America which popularized the position of President when the post was created as the new republic's Head of State (and Head of Government) in 1789. As South America became independent from Spanish rule, so too did these new republics adopt the title of "President" for their leaders, creating constitutions purposely similar to that of the US. The first European president was the President of France, a post created in the Second Republic of 1848. (The First Republic had harkened back to the ancient Roman Republic by appointing several consuls at its head.) The first Asian president was Emilio Aguinaldo the President of the 1st Republic of the Philippines (1898) though the first Asian President recognized internationally was the President of the Republic of China (1912), and the first African President was the President of Liberia created in 1848. Today, the majority of countries have a President as their Head of State.

Presidents in democratic countries and international organizations

Presidential systems

In states with what is called a Presidential system of government, the President is also the head of government, as well as the head of state. Countries with such a system include the United States and most nations in Latin America. In this system the office of President is very powerful, both in practice and theory. In the United States, the President is indirectly elected by the U.S. Electoral College made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In most U.S. states, each elector is committed to voting for a specified candidate determined by the popular vote in each state, so that the people, in voting for each elector, is in effect voting for the candidate. However, in several close U.S. elections (notably 1876, 1888, 2000), while one candidate received the most popular votes, another candidate managed to win more electoral votes in the Electoral College and so won the presidency.

Parliamentary systems

2000 (1950-1962)]] Other states have what is called a Parliamentary system of government, in which the President is only head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government. Countries with such systems include Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy and Singapore, as well as Portugal (which has a very similar system but slightly different from the aforementioned). Under such a system, executive authority is often vested in the president, with the Government governing in his or her name, producing phrases such as "His/Her Excellency's Government" in some formal state documentation. However a president may also possess some reserve powers or powers which can be exercised by the President without formal advice (ie, binding instruction) from 'His' or 'Her' Governnment. Usually in parliamentary systems, the president's role is primarily ceremonial. However, due to the combination of constitutionally established "reserve powers," protocol (which may require them to formally chair cabinet meetings and/or have access to all cabinet memoranda), and his or her role as the person in whose name executive authority is vested, often gives the president a degree of informal influence not often publicly realised. An example of this influence is the following: between 1870 and 1940, and again from 1945 to 1958, France operated a classic parliamentary system of government, with power in a cabinet chosen by the National Assembly, and a largely though not totally symbolic president; in 1877, President Mac-Mahon showed that his office was constitutionally significant when he dismissed the then prime minister before calling new elections, in the hope of achieving a royalist majority to restore the monarchy (the plan failed).

"President of Government" in parliamentary systems

Mac-Mahon (1982-1996)]] Some countries with parliamentary systems use the term 'president' in connection with the head of parliamentary government, often as President of the Government, President of the Council of Ministers or President of the Executive Council. However, such an official is explicitly not the president of the country. Rather, he or she is called a president in an older sense of the word to denote the fact that he or she heads the cabinet. A separate head of state generally exists in their country that instead serves as the president or monarch of the country. Thus, such leaders are really premiers, and to avoid confusion are often described simply as 'prime minister' when being mentioned internationally. There are several examples for this kind of presidency:
- Under the French Third and the Fourth Republics, the "President of the Council" (of ministers) was the head of government, with the President of the Republic a largely symbolic figurehead.
- The prime minister of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1937 was titled President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. At the same time, the Irish Free State was a kingdom with a reigning monarch, the King of Ireland, as well as a resident Governor-General carrying out many head of state functions.
- The Prime Minister of Spain is officially referred to as the President of the Government of Spain, and informally known as the "President". Spain is also a kingdom with a reigning King of Spain.
- The official title of the Prime Minister of Serbia is President of the Government, while the country has a President of Serbia.

Semi-presidential systems

President of Serbia (1958-1969), wearing the Legion of Honour as grand-master of the order.]] A third system is the semi-presidential system, also known as the French system, in which like the Parliamentary system there is both a President and a Prime Minister, but unlike the Parliamentary system the President may have significant day-to-day power. When his party controls the majority of seats in the National Assembly the president can operate closely with the parliament and prime minister, and work towards a common agenda. When the National Assembly is controlled by opponents of the President however, the president can find himself marginalized with the opposition party prime minister exercising most of the power. Though the prime minister remains an appointee of the president, the president must obey the rules of parliament, and select a leader from the house's majority holding party. Thus, sometimes the president and PM can be allies, sometimes bitter rivals. This situation is known as cohabitation. The French semi-presidential system, which can be considered a hybrid between the first two, was developed at the beginning of the Fifth Republic by Charles de Gaulle. It is used (of course) in France, Russia, Sri Lanka , and several other post-colonial countries which have emulated the French model.

Collective Presidency

Only a tiny minority of modern republics do not have a head of state; examples include:
- Switzerland, where the headship of state is collectively vested in the seven-member Swiss Federal Council despite the fact the system includes a President of the Confederation. The President is a member of the Federal Council elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly (the Swiss Parliament) for a year; and the President is merely primus inter pares (first among equals). Nevertheless, on the international stage he or she is treated as head of state. Letters of Credence appointing ambassadors are formally addressed to him or her by other heads of state.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has a three-member Presidency, each of which are elected by a different constituent nation. The position of the President of the Presidency rotates between the three members.
- San Marino, which has two Captains Regent elected by the Great and General Council.
- The European Union is governed in part by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a rotating post held by the member states of the European Union. In the past this has been one individual state presiding for a six-month period; as of 2007 it will be three states sharing the presidency during their overlapping 18-month terms. There is also a President of the European Commission.

Presidents in dictatorships

In dictatorships, the title is frequently taken by self-appointed and/or military-backed leaders. Such is the case in many African states; Idi Amin in Uganda, for example. Sometimes the title is even extended into the more presumptuous form of "president for life." In some communist states, the head of the Communist party was also given the presidency, such as Fidel Castro in Cuba and Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union. On other occasions in the Soviet Union, the real power was exercised by the General Secretary of the Communist Party, with some local notable holding the presidency. Soviet Union of Yugoslavia.]] President for Life is a title assumed by some dictators to ensure that their authority or legitimacy is never questioned. The first well-known incident of a leader extending his term indefinitely was Roman dictator Julius Caesar, who made himself "Perpetual Dictator" (commonly mistranslated as 'Dictator-for-life') in 45 BC. His actions would later be mimicked by the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte who was appointed "First Consul for life" in 1802. Ironically, most leaders who proclaim themselves President for Life do not in fact successfully serve a life term. Even so presidents like Alexandre Sabès dit Pétion, Rafael Carrera, Josip Broz Tito and François Duvalier died in office. The only living officially proclaimed president for life is Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. Many of them do not proclaim it officially "for life" even if it is evident that they are, like Fidel Castro of Cuba, or Ceausescu of Romania, who ruled until his execution (q.v. Romanian revolution Several presidents have ruled until their death in democratic countries, but they have not actually been made and/or proclaimed themselves as President for Life. For instance, Archbishop President Makarios became president of Cyprus late in his life (in 1960) and ruled until his death in 1977, having successfully won re-election several times.

Presidential symbols

As the country's head of state, in most countries the president is entitled to certain symbolic honors, as well as luxury perks that come with the office. For example, most of the world's presidents have a special residence; often a lavish mansion or palace. The President of the United States for example resides in the famous White House. As well as an official residence, in some nations the Presidency brings with it certain symbols of office, such as an official uniform, decorations, or other accessories. Perhaps the most common presidential symbol are the presidential sashes worn by the presidents of Latin America. In these countries, the sash is a symbol of the presidency's continuity, and presenting the sash to the new president is a key part of the inauguration ceremony.

Presidential chronologies

- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Austria
- Bangladesh
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France

- Gabon
- Gambia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Kenya
- Korea, North
- Korea, South
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Lithuania
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Yemen

- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- Somaliland
- South Africa
- South Yemen
- Sri Lanka
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe

- European Commission
- Leaders of post-Soviet independent states

Specific information

- President of Argentina
- President of Austria
- President of the Republic of China
- President of the People's Republic of China
- President of Fiji
- President of France
- President of Germany
- President of India
- President of Ireland
- President of Israel
- President of Malta
- President of Mexico
- President of Pakistan
- President of the Philippines
- President of the Republic of Poland
- President of Serbia
- President of Serbia and Montenegro
- President of Switzerland
- President of Trinidad and Tobago
- President of the United States

Additional reading

The powers, functions and functioning of presidents were reviewed by six international experts for Australia's Republic Advisory Committee in 1993. Reports by among others Professor Klaus Von Beyme (on Germany), A.G Noorani (on India), Jim Duffy (on Ireland) and Sir Ellis Clarke (on Trinidad and Tobago) outline the role of various presidencies. The full report is called An Australian Republic: The Options - The Appendices (ISBN 0644325895)

Non-governmental presidents

President is also used as a title in some non-governmental organizations. The head of a university or non-profit corporation, particularly in the United States of America, is often known as president. President is also a title in many corporations. In some cases the president acts as chief operating officer under the direction of the chief executive officer. In British constitutional practice, the chairman of an Executive Council, acting in such a capacity, is known as a President of the Executive Council. Usually this person is the Governor but is not always so. In university systems with multiple independent campuses, the relationship between the roles of president and chancellor can become quite complicated. See chancellor. Many other organizations, clubs, and committees, both political and non-political are led by Presidents as well. Examples can vary from the President of a political party, to the president of a chamber of commerce, to the President of a students' union and even the president of a high school chess club. In French legal terminology, the president of a court consisting of multiple judges is the foremost judge; he chairs the meeting of the court and directs the debates (and this thus addressed as "Mr President", Monsieur le Président, or appropriate feminine forms). In general, a court comprises several chambers, each with its own president; thus the most senior of these is called the "first president" (as in: "the First President of the Court of Cassation is the most senior judge in France").

Speaker (politics)

The term Speaker is usually the title given to the presiding officer of a country's lower house of parliament or congress (i.e., the House of Commons or House of Representatives). In most cases a speaker is elected from amongst the members of the assembly by the members, and no whips are allowed in the selection. Nonetheless, a speaker from the ruling party is usually chosen. In many nations, especially those with the Westminster System of government, the position of Speaker, modelled after the British office, is an official charged with enforcing procedural rules. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. Ideally, the speaker in a Westminster-derived legislature is politically neutral and is not concerned with substantive issues. In the event of a tie, the speaker is permitted to vote, but only according to established conventions. Despite being an impartial position, the Speaker in a Westminster system has to stand for re-election if they wish to stay. In the Republic of Ireland the Speaker (Ceann Comhairle) is deemed to have been elected if they seek re-election; in the United Kingdom it is a constitutional convention that no major party will put up a candidate against the 'Speaker seeking re-election'. Often the speaker performs his duties in a non-partisan manner, but in the United States, the Speaker is the most powerful position in the United States House of Representatives and participates in legislating. Some nations have a ceremonial president of their lower house of parliament instead of a speaker. It is very rare for an upper house to have a speaker. For example, the House of Lords in the United Kingdom has a Lord Chancellor and upper houses in Australia have presidents.

Parliamentary system

A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. Hence, there is no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, leading to criticism from some that they lack checks and balances found in a presidential republic. Parliamentarism is praised, relative to presidentialism, for its flexibility and responsiveness to the public. It is faulted for its tendency to sometimes lead to unstable governments, as in the German Weimar Republic and the French Fourth Republic. Parliamentary systems usually have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state, with the head of government being the prime minister or premier, and the head of state often being an appointed figurehead with only minor or ceremonial powers. However, some parliamentary systems also have an elected president with many reserve powers as the head of state, providing some balance to these systems. The term parliamentary system does not mean that a country is ruled by different parties in coalition with each other. Such multi-party arrangements are usually the product of an electoral system known as proportional representation. Parliamentary countries that use first past the post voting usually have governments composed of one party. The United Kingdom, for instance, has had only one coalition government since World War II. However, parliamentary systems of continental Europe do use proportional representation, so, outside the British Commonwealth, it can be said that PR voting systems and parliamentarism go together. Parliamentarism may also be heeded for governance in local governments. An example is the city of Oslo, which has an executive council as part of a parliamentary system. Oslo

History

Main Article: History of Parliamentarism The modern parliamentary system has its roots in the Roman Republic's senate, which was essentially a ruling council made up of the elite of society. Even after the Republic became the Roman Empire, the senate still had immense influence and power. However, as time went on, the autocratic nature of later emperors eventually reduced the senate's prestige and power, and ushered in centuries of relative autocratic rule by monarchs. Under feudalism in the Middle Ages, all members of a kingdom were technically under the protection of a ruling monarch (and the Church), who gave land to nobles in exchange for support. However, nobles would occasionally challenge the ruling monarch (as would the Church). Under the customs of Feudalism, groups of nobles would meet to decide on whether they would support the monarch on important issues. These groups sometimes clashed with the autocratic nature of some monarchs. The most important clash, in the evolution of the nation state and Constitutional rule of law, came with Magna Carta of 1215—it was the first true challenge to the unrestrained powers of a king, attempting to constitutionally limit King John after he commited a series of debacles. The kingdom of England had become too big, the groups of nobles believed, for any one man as crazy as John to make decisions. The statements made by Magna Carta were a direct challenge to the Divine Right of Kings, a philosophy held by convention at the time, and led to many civil wars, perhaps the most famous of which was the English Civil War. Parliaments throughout Europe systematically replaced the powers of the monarch, often holding complete financial control of the state. In many cases the monarchs finally signed over all actual power, and became ceremonial figureheads. In others, the entire monarchy fell, and were replaced by the parliaments. As time went on, most states began to give suffrage to decide the makeup of the parliament, often with two houses. One was hereditary and made up of nobles, and the other made up of elected officials, for example the House of Lords and House of Commons in the United Kingdom. Initially, the house of the elite, or upper house, held most of the power, but most parliaments now invest almost complete power in the elected or lower house. Some parliaments have abolished the upper house completely, while others have altered them to be elected as well. The parliamentary system has come full circle from its ancient beginnings.

The features of a parliamentary system

The executive is typically a cabinet, and headed by a prime minister who is considered the head of government, but parliamentarism has also been practised with privy councils. The prime minister and the ministers of the cabinet typically have their background in the parliament and may remain members thereof while serving in cabinet. The leader of the leading party, or group of parties, in the parliament is often appointed as the prime minister. In many countries, the cabinet, or single members thereof, can be removed by the parliament through a vote of no confidence. In addition, the executive can often dissolve the parliament and call extra-ordinary elections. Under the parliamentary system the roles of head of state and head of government are more or less separated. In most parliamentary systems, the head of state is primarily a ceremonial position, often a monarch or president, retaining duties that aren't politically divisive, such as appointments of civil service. In many parliamentary systems, the head of state may have reserve powers which are usable in a crisis. In most cases however, such powers are (either by convention or by constitutional rule) only exercised upon the advice and approval of the head of government. Because the executive is directly related to the legislature, some argue the executive is actually more accountable than many fixed term presidential systems, as the executive, being linked to the legislative, can face an early election in the face of the aforementioned 'vote of confidence'. In addition, because the executive is beholden to the legislature, he or she faces more direct questioning by opposition politicians than an executive would in a presidential system. It can also be argued that it's relatively easier to pass legislation within a parliamentary system since the executive and the legislature are always controlled by the same party and since the executive has a greater ability to "snap the whip" and force wavering party members into alignment. Within presidential systems, the executive is often chosen independently from the legislature. If the executive is of a different party from those leading the legislature, then stalemate can occur. Parliamentary systems vary as to the degree to which they have a formal written constitution and the degree to which that constitution describes the day to day working of the government. Also, depending upon the voting system, they vary as to the number of parties within the system and the dynamics between the parties. Relations between the central government and local governments vary in parliamentary systems; they may be federal or unitary states.

Advantages of a parliamentary system

It could be argued that a parliamentary system is more accountable than a presidential system, since power is not divided. In a parliamentary system, it is easier for voters to tell who is responsible for inaction than in a presidential system. Also, in a parliamentary system the chief executive (or prime minister) is often questioned by the legislature. Such a procedure would ensure that the chief executive is held to account and would act as a check on his power. Some believe that it is easier to pass legislation within a parliamentary system. This is because the executive branch is dependent upon the direct or indirect support of the legislative branch and is often comprised of members of the legislature. In a presidential system, the executive is often chosen independently from the legislature. If the executive and legislature in such a system are comprised of members from different political parties, then stalemate can occur. Former US President Bill Clinton often faced problems in this regard, since the Republicans controlled Congress for much of his tenure as President. Presidents often face problems from their own parties as Jimmy Carter did. Parliamentarianism also has attractive features for nations that are ethnically divided. In a unipersonal presidential system, all executive power is concentrated in the president, in a parliamentary system, with a collegial executive, power is more divided. In the 1989 Lebanese Taif Agreement, in order to give Muslims greater political power, Lebanon moved from a semi-presidential system with a strong president to something that was more like a classical parliamentary system. Iraq similarly disdained a presidential system out of fears that such a system would be equivalent to Shiite domination; Afghanistan's minorities refused to go along with a presidency as strong as the Pashtuns desired. Switzerland is not a parliamentary system, but it does have a plural executive. In the English Constitution, Walter Bagehot praised parliamentarianism for producing serious debates, for allowing the change in power without an election, and for allowing elections at any time. Bagehot considered the four-year election rule of the United States to be unnatural. There is also a body of scholarship, associated with Juan Linz, Fred Riggs, Bruce Ackerman, and Robert Dahl that claims that parliamentarianism is less prone to authoritarian collapse. These scholars point out that since World War II, two-thirds of Third World countries establishing parliamentary governments successfully transitioned to democracy. By contrast, no Third World presidential system successfully transitioned to democracy without experiencing coups and other constitutional breakdowns. As Bruce Ackerman says of the thirty countries to have experimented with American checks and balances, “All of them, without exception, have succumbed to the nightmare [of breakdown] one time or another, often repeatedly.”

Criticisms of parliamentarianism

A main criticism of many parlimentary systems is that the head of government cannot be directly voted on. Often, an electorate will be surprised just by who is elevated to the premiership, as Indians were surprised in 2004 when Manmohan Singh was named prime minister and not Sonia Gandhi. In a presidential system, the president is directly chosen by the people, or by a set of electors directly chosen by the people, but in a parliamentary system the prime minister is elected by the party leadership. Another major criticism comes from the relationship between the executive and legislative branches. Because there is a lack of obvious separation of power, some believe that a parliamentary system can place too much power in the executive entity, leading to the feeling that the legislature or judiciary have little scope to administer checks or balances on the executive. In the United Kingdom, the prime minister is traditionally thought of as the "first among equals" of the cabinet. It has been alleged in The Economist and by former MP Graham Allen that the prime minister's power has grown so much in recent years that he or she is now dominant over the government and that collegiality is no more. Rather than being "first among equals," the modern British prime minister is "like the moon among the stars," as The Economist once put it. "Instead of a healthy balance we have an executive [the prime minister] who stands like an 800 lb. gorilla alongside a wizened legislature and judiciary." (Allen, 12) Although it is possible to have a powerful prime minister, as Britain has, or even a dominant party system, as Japan has, parliamentary systems are also sometimes unstable. Critics point to Israel, Italy, the French Fourth Republic, and Weimar Germany as examples of parliamentary systems where unstable coalitions, demanding minority parties, no confidence votes, and threats of no confidence votes, make or have made effective governance impossible. Defenders of parliamentarianism say that parliamentary instability is the result of proportional representation, political culture, and highly polarised electorates. Although Walter Bagehot praised parliamentarianism for allowing an election to take place at any time, the lack of a definite election calendar can be abused. In some systems, such as the British, a ruling party can schedule elections when it feels that it is likely to do well, and so avoid elections at times of unpopularity. Thus, by wise timing of elections, in a parliamentary system a party can extend its rule for longer than is feasible in a functioning presidential system. In other systems, such as the Dutch, the ruling party or coalition has some flexibility in determining the election date, but not much.

Parliamentarism and Party Formation

Traditionally, parties in parliamentary systems have had much tighter ideological cohesiveness than parties in presidential systems. It would be impossible for a parliamentary system to have a party like the United States Democratic Party, which was a directionless coalition of Southern, conservative, Protestants and urban, liberal, white ethnics until the 1980s. A parliamentary system's party must support a government, if a party in a parliamentary system had wildly divergent wings, its goal of government support would be highly problematic. In parliaments, legislators do not have the freedom to vote against their party leadership. An individual legislator in a parliamentary system is recognized to be a creature of his party leadership, not an independent spokesman for a district. A parliamentarian can criticize his party’s leadership, but he must accept responsibility for the leadership’s choice and vote for it. If a parliamentarian were to vote against his leadership he would be expelled from the party and not slated in the next election. Since parties in parliamentary systems cannot accommodate dissent in the same way parties in presidential systems can, there is an incentive to channel dissent through new parties, not through intra-party conflict. Thus, parliamentary systems – even ones that vote by first-past-the-post, will see a proliferation of alternative parties.

Countries with a parliamentary system of government

Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta , Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden, United Kingdom, Slovakia.

Council-manager government

The council-manager government is one of two main variations of representative municipal government in the United States. This system of government is used in the majority of American cities with populations over 25,000. (for contrast, see Mayor-Council government). In the council-manager form of government, an elected city council (typically between 5 and 11 people) is responsible for making policy, passing ordinances, voting appropriations, and having overall supervisory authority in the city government. In such a government, the mayor (or equivalent executive) will perform strictly ceremonial duties or will act as a member and presiding officer of the council. The council will hire a city manager or administrator who will be responsible for supervising government operations and implementing the policies adopted by the council. The manager serves the council, usually with a contract that specifies duties and responsibilities. Ideally, the manager is apolitical, but this is often difficult. Municipal governments are usually administratively divided into several departments, depending on the size of the city. Though cities differ in the division of responsibility, the typical arrangement is to have the following departments handle the following roles: #Urban planning and zoning: #Public Works: construction and maintenance of all city-owned or operated assets, including the water supply system, sewer, streets, snow removal, street signs, vehicles, buildings, land, etc. #Parks and Recreation: (construction and maintenance of) city parks, common areas, parkways, publicly owned lands, etc. Also, operation of various recreation programs and facilities. #Police #Fire #Accounting / Finance: collects taxes owed to the city. #Human Resources: incorporates human resources department for city workers, #Legal - Risk Management: handles all legal matters including writing municipal bonds, verifying the city is in compliance with state and federal mandates, responding to citizen lawsuits such as lawsuits allegedly stemming from city actions or inactions. Typical legal actions include someone who fell on city-owned sidewalks suing the city for negligence, or a city annexing land. #Transportation (varies widely): If the city has a municipal bus or light rail service, this function may be its own department or it may be folded into the another of the above departments. The council-manager system can be seen to place all power into the hands of the legislative branch. However, a city manager can be seen as a similar role to that of corporate CEO in providing professional management to an organization. Council-manager government is much like a publicly traded corporation. In a corporation, the board of directors appoints a CEO, makes major decisions and wields representative power on behalf of shareholders. Likewise in council-manager government, the city council appoints a city manager, makes major decisions, and wields representative power on behalf of the citizens. The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) (see http://icma.org ) is a professional organization for city managers. It was founded in 1914, and has more than 8000 members worldwide. In New England, where municipal government is often invested in an incorporated town, the city manager may be called town manager, and the council can often be referred to its traditional name of Board of Selectmen.

History of the council-manager government in the United States

This form of government was first adopted by Staunton, Virginia in 1908; Dayton, Ohio became the first major city to use the system in 1913. See also: mayor-council government, City Commission government, political science

References

- Managing Urban America -- David R. Morgan & Robert E. England (1999) Category:Forms of government ja:シティー・マネージャー制

San Francisco, California

: The City and County of San Francisco (2004 estimated population 744,230) is the fourth-largest city in the state of California, in the United States. A consolidated city-county, mainland San Francisco is located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula. Insular San Francisco includes several islands in the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Strait, notably Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and the Farallon Islands 27 miles offshore in the Pacific Ocean and also most of the privately owned Red Rock Island near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. (See Islands of San Francisco Bay) The city is a focal point of the San Francisco Bay Area, and forms part of the greater San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area (CSA), whose population is over 7 million. U.S. census data show that San Francisco has the highest population density of any major U.S. city aside from New York City. The first Europeans to settle in San Francisco were the Spanish, in 1776. With the advent of the California gold rush in 1848 the city entered a period of rapid growth. Devastated by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the city was quickly rebuilt. The phoenix on the city's flag represents San Francisco's "rebirth" from the ashes of the fire that resulted from the quake. Long enjoying a bohemian reputation the city became a counterculture magnet in the second half of the 20th century. It was a center of the dot-com boom and explosive growth of the internet at the end of the century. San Francisco has unique characteristics when compared to other major cities in the U.S., including its steep rolling hills, an eclectic mix of architecture including both Victorian style houses and modern skyscrapers, and unmatched physical beauty, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. San Francisco's famous hallmarks include its cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge, which are recognized worldwide.
History
Golden Gate Bridge European visitors to the Bay Area were preceded 10,000 to 20,000 years earlier by Native Americans. When Europeans arrived, they found the area inhabited by the Yelamu tribe, belonging to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone (a Miwok Indian word meaning "western people") living in the coastal area between Point Sur and the San Francisco Bay. San Francisco's characteristic foggy weather and geography led early European explorers, including Juan Cabrillo and Sir Francis Drake (who would instead land a few miles north in Point Reyes), to pass by the Golden Gate and miss the San Francisco Bay. Eventually, a Spanish party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà, discovered the bay in 1770, claiming it in the name of Spain. In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza arrived and established the sites for the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis (named for Saint Francis of Assisi and now popularly known as "Mission Dolores"). In 1792 British explorer George Vancouver set up a small settlement near the village of Yerba Buena (later downtown San Francisco) which became a small base for English, Russian, and other European fur traders, explorers, and settlers. Due to its distance from Mexico City and the decline of Spanish power, the area was isolated, remaining sparsely populated and undeveloped. It became part of an independent Mexico in 1821. Following the passing of the Secularization Act of 1833, effectively ending the Mission period, Mission San Francisco de Asis was abandoned. The local indigenous tribes of Ohlone and Miwok had became virtually extinct by this time due to disease and warfare with the European settlers. In addition to Spanish and European settlers, Russian colonists also visited the Bay area. From 1770, lasting through 1841, Russia colonized an area that ranged from Alaska south to Fort Ross in Sonoma County, California. The naming of San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood is attributed to the remains of Russian fur-traders and sailors found there. Serious development by non-Spanish speakers began in 1822, when William Richardson, an English whaler redeveloped a section of Yerba Buena in what is now Portsmouth Square in Chinatown. Yerba Buena remained a small town until the Mexican-American War broke out in 1846. The British Empire briefly entertained the idea of purchasing the bay from Mexico in 1841, claiming it would "Secure to Great Britain all the advantages of the finest port in the Pacific for her commercial speculations in time of peace, and in war for more easily securing her maritime ascendency". However little came of this, and San Francisco become a prize of United States continental imperialism rather than that of British thalassocratic power. A naval force under Commodore John D. Sloat claimed it in the name of the United States and renamed it "San Francisco" on January 30, 1847. Situated at the tip of a windswept peninsula without water or firewood, San Francisco lacked most of the basic facilities for a nineteenth century settlement. These natural disadvantages forced the town's residents to bring water, fuel and food to the site. The first of many environmental transformations was the city's reliance on filled marshlands for real estate. Much of the present downtown is built over the former Yerba Buena Cove, granted to the city by military governor Stephen Watts Kearny in 1847. Stephen Watts Kearny The California gold rush starting in 1848 led to a large boom in population, including considerable immigration. Between January 1848 and December 1849, the population of San Francisco increased from 1,000 to 25,000. This included many workers from China who came to work in the gold mines and later on the Transcontinental Railroad. The Chinatown district of the city became and is still one of the largest in the country; the city as a whole is roughly one-fifth Chinese, one of the largest concentrations outside of China. Many businesses founded to service the growing population exist today, notably Levi Strauss & Co. clothing, Ghirardelli chocolate, and Wells Fargo bank. Many famous railroad, banking, and mining tycoons or "robber barons" such as Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington, and Leland Stanford settled in the city in its Nob Hill neighborhood. The sites of their mansions are now famous and expensive San Francisco hotels (Mark Hopkins Hotel and the Huntington Hotel). Huntington Hotel, 1856.]] As in many mining towns, the social climate in early San Francisco was chaotic. This was exacerbated by squabbling in the United States Senate, where the Compromise of 1850 was igniting a fierce fight over slavery. Committees of Vigilance were formed in 1851, and again in 1856, in response to crime and government corruption, but also had a strong element of anti-immigrant violence, and arguably created more lawlessness than they eliminated. This popular militia movement lynched 12 people, kidnapped hundreds of Irishmen and government militia members, and forced several elected officials to resign. The Committee of Vigilance relinquished power both times after it decided the city had been "cleaned up." This mob activity later focused on Chinese immigrants, creating many race riots. These riots culminated in the creation of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 that aimed to reduce Chinese immigration to the United States by limiting immigration to males and reducing numbers of immigrants allowed in the city. The law was not repealed until 1943. Chinese Exclusion Act San Francisco County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. The parts of the county not in the city limits were split off to form San Mateo County in 1856. San Francisco became America's largest city west of the Mississippi River, until it lost that title to Los Angeles. It was also briefly the state capital in 1851, until San José received the title. (Sacramento is the current capital.) In autumn of 1855, a ship bearing refugees from an ongoing cholera epidemic in the far east (authorities disagree as to whether this was the S.S. Sam or the S.S. Carolina) docked in San Francisco. As the city's rapid gold-rush area population growth had significantly outstripped the development of infrastructure, including sanitation, a serious cholera epidemic quickly broke out. The responsibility for caring for the indigent sick had previously rested on the state, but faced with the San Francisco cholera epidemic, the state legislature devolved this responsibility to the counties, setting the precedent for California's system of county hospitals for the poor still in effect today. The Sisters of Mercy were contracted to run San Francisco's first county hospital at the height of the cholera epidemic, and in 1857, the order opened its own charity hospital, Mercy Hospital of San Francisco, which is still in operation today at its original location on Stanyan Street. By the 1890s, San Francisco was suffering from Boss politics and corruption, and was ripe for political reform. Adolph Sutro ran for mayor in 1894 under the auspices of the Populist Party and won handily without campaigning. Unfortunately, except for the Sutro Baths, Mayor Sutro substantially failed in his efforts to improve the city. The next mayor, James D. Phelan elected in 1896, was more successful, pushing through a new city charter that allowed for the ability to raise funds through bond issues. He was able to get bonds passed to construct a new sewer system, seventeen new schools, two parks, a hospital, and a main library. After leaving office in 1901, Phelan became interested in remaking San Francisco into a grand and modern Paris of the West. When the San Francisco Art Association asked him to draft a plan for the beautification of the city, he hired famed architect Daniel Burnham. Burnham and Phelan's plan was ambitious, envisioning a 50-year effort to transform the city with wide diagonal boulevards creating open spaces and squares as they crossed the orthogonal grid of existing streets. Some parts of the plan were eventually implemented, including an Opera house to the north of City Hall, a subway under Market Street, and a waterfront boulevard (The Embarcadero) circling the city. In 1900, a ship from China brought with it rats infected with bubonic plague. Mistakenly believing that interred corpses contributed to the transmission of plague, and possibly also motivated by the opportunity for profitable land speculation, city leaders banned all burials within the city. Cemeteries moved to the undeveloped area just south of the city limit, now the town of Colma, California. A fifteen-block section of Chinatown was quarantined while city leaders squabbled over the proper course to take, but the outbreak was finally eradicated by 1905. However, the problem of existing cemeteries and the shortage of land in the city remained. In 1912 (with fights extending until 1942), all remaining cemeteries in the city were evicted to Colma, where the dead now outnumber the living by more than a thousand to one. The above-ground Columbarium of San Francisco was allowed to remain, as well as the historic cemetery at the Mission Dolores Church and The San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco. On April 18 1906, a devastating earthquake resulted from the rupture of over 270 miles of the San Andreas Fault, from San Juan Bautista to Eureka, centered immediately offshore of San Francisco. The quake is estimated by the USGS to have had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. Water mains ruptured throughout San Francisco, and the fires that followed burned out of control for days, destroying approximately 80% of the city, including almost all of the downtown core. Many residents were trapped between the water on three sides and the approaching fire, and a mass evacuation (similar to that of the later Battle of Dunkirk) across the Bay saved thousands. Refugee camps were also set up in Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, and other undeveloped sections of the city. The official death toll at the time was 478, although it was officially revised in 2005 to 3,000+. The initial low death toll was concocted by civic, state, and federal officials who felt that reporting the actual numbers would hurt rebuilding and redevelopment efforts, as well as city and national morale. Ocean Beach In 1915, the city hosted the Panama-Pacific Exposition, officially to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal, but also as a showcase of the vibrant completely rebuilt city less than a decade after the Earthquake. After the exposition ended, all of its grand buildings were demolished except for the Palace of Fine Arts which survives today in an abbreviated form. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was opened in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937. During World War II, San Francisco was the major mainland supply point and port of embarkation for the war in the Pacific. The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco has been the site of some significant post World War II history. In 1945, the conference that formed the United Nations was held there, with the UN Charter being signed on June 26. Additionally the Treaty of San Francisco which formally ended war with Japan and established peaceful relations, was drafted and signed here six years later in 1951. After World War II, many American military personnel who fell in love with the city during leaving to or returning from the Pacific, settled in the city prompting the creation of the Sunset District and Visitacion Valley. During this period, Caltrans commenced an aggressive freeway construction program in the Bay Area. However, Caltrans soon encountered strong resistance in San Francisco, for the city's high population density meant that virtually any right-of-way would displace a large number of people. Caltrans tried to minimize displacement (and its land acquisition costs) by building double-decker freeways, but the crude state of civil engineering at that time resulted in construction of some embarrassingly ugly freeways which ultimately turned out to be seismically unsafe. In 1959, the Board of Supervisors voted to halt con

City council

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Alderman

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Councillor

United Kingdom

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Mayor

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Veto

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President

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Parliamentary system

History

The features of a parliamentary system

Advantages of a parliamentary system

Criticisms of parliamentarianism

Parliamentarism and Party Formation

Countries with a parliamentary system of government

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Council-manager government

History of the council-manager government in the United States

References

San Francisco, California

History