World Leaders

[Mel]

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 3, Issue 12 (June 2010).

World Leaders
by Casey.

Recently, during a class discussion, I was shocked to realize how many of my classmates did not know who the current world leaders were. Right now, there are 181 nations listed on the CIA's website, although not all of them are recognized as nations by the United States. Can you name a third (sixty nations) of them? I can name eighty-seven. Of those I cannot name, , some I have never heard of and others I know little about. I cannot tell you of all 181 nations, but I will tell you about the world leaders of eleven of these nations.

First a little about Commonwealth nations.The Commonwealth realms are sixteen independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations who still formally accept HRH Queen Elizabeth II as their sovereign. They are connected historically in most cases by their status as former colonies of the British Empire, though their modern governance is only associated to the United Kingdom ceremonially. In each realm outside of the UK the Queen appoints a Governor General to fulfil her functions in her absence.

Australia, also known as the Commonwealth of Australia ,is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Queen, House of Representatives, and Senate make up Australia's governing body. In addition, each of the six states has their own constitution, and in total there are seven sovereign parliaments. The Governor General of Australia is Quentin Bryce and the Prime Minister is currently Kevin Michael Rudd.

Next, we have Canada, a Commonwealth realm. Canada is a parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy, meaning that it too has a Queen. The Queen is represented by the Governor General, currently Michaëlle Jean. The Canadian parliament is composed of an elected lower house (the House of Commons), and an appointed upper house (the Senate). The party with the most elected MPs in the Commons forms the government, and the leader of that party becomes Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister is Stephen Harper. The Prime Minister then appoints a Cabinet who run the country day to day.

I know you know something about China, but do you know who leads China or the kind of government in China? China is also known as the People's Republic of China; it is a Communist country, although it appears to being heading towards Capitalism. The President, currently Hu Jintao, is the head of state but does not actually have that much power. The State Council is actually the chief authority in the PRC.

Denmark is also a constitutional monarchy. The head of the Danish government is the Prime Minister, currently Lars Lokke Rasmussen. There is a queen, Queen Margrethe II, but the Prime Minister and the cabinet oversee the eighteen departments of the government, although they are all appointed by the Crown, based on party composition of Parliament.

France is a social and democratic Republic. France is semi-presidential, meaning that the power of the executive branch is divided between two officials, the President, who is the Head of State, and the Prime Minister, who is the Head of Government.The president of France, currently Nicolas Sarkozy, is elected directly by the people. Currently, the Prime Minister is Francois Fillon.

Next we have Greece, which has been in the news a lot lately. We all know of the stock market crash in Greece, and the fall of the Euro, but do you know about the Grecian government system? Greece is also a Democratic Republic. They have a President, Karolos Papoulias, although he is not the Head of Government, who is elected by Parliament. The Prime Minister is the Head of Government, currently Yeoryios Papandreou, is elected directly by the people.

Germany is also a Democratic Republic, with the Chancellor as the Head of Government. The Chancellor is not elected by the people, but by Parliament. The President is basically a ceremonial position , mainly ceremonial duties, like diplomatic appearances,although he does hold a position of power. The current President is Horst Koehler, and the current Chancellor is Angela Merkel.

Ireland is also a republic. The head of government is the prime minister, who is appointed by the president, after being chosen by the lower Parliament.The current president is Mary Mcaleese and the Prime Minister of Ireland is Brian Cown.

Japan is a constitutional monarchy, and they have an Emperor, Emperor Akihito. The power of the emperor is really limited though, he is basically for ceremonial and diplomatic purposes. The Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has the majority of the power, and is the head of government.

Russia, which has the ninth largest population in the world, gained it's independence from the Soviet Union back in 1991 and is now a federation. Russia's government currently includes a Chief of State, President Dmitriy Anatolyevich Medvedev, several different heads of governments with focuses on different areas of the government, and a cabinet, all of whom are elected by the popular vote.

Last but certainly not least, the United Kingdom is not a single country, but actually made up of several different countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom, a Commonwealth realm, is a parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. The UK parliament is composed of an elected lower house (the House of Commons), and an appointed upper house (the House of Lords). The party with the most elected MPs in the Commons forms the government, and the leader of that party becomes Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister is David Cameron. The Prime Minister then appoints a Cabinet who run the country day to day.