Directorial system

The directorial or executive council system is a political system in which executive power is held directly by a collegial body, typically called a council, directory, or cabinet, with no single head of government. The system was pioneered by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution and the French Directory, which ended the Reign of Terror. It has since been used by the Swiss Confederation as part of the 1848 Swiss Constitution, adopted after the Sonderbund War.^[1]

Current directorial systems

Countries with directorial heads of state sharing ceremonial functions:

Countries governed by an executive directorial head of state:

Supranational and subnational entities governed by a directorial system:

Directorial republic in Switzerland

One country now using this form of government is Switzerland.^[2] In Switzerland, directories operate at all levels of administration: federal, cantonal and municipal. On the face of it, the Swiss Federal Council might appear to be a typical parliamentary government; technically, however, it is not a meeting of ministers, but a college of heads of state and simultaneously the federal cabinet. The current president of the confederation is in fact only a primus inter pares (first among equals) with representative functions in particular for diplomacy with other States, and without any power either of direction or of coordination of the activity of colleagues.^[3] The Swiss Federal Council is elected by the Federal Assembly for four years, and comprises seven members, among whom one serves as president and one as vice-president on a rotating basis, although these positions are symbolic in normal circumstances. Unlike in a parliamentary system, the Federal Council is not answerable before the Federal Assembly, but is elected for a roughly concurrent term of office. The link between the Swiss managerial system and the presidential system is even more evident for the cantonal governments, where currently all directors are all individually directly elected by the voters.^[4]

History

In political history, the term directory, in French directoire, is applied to high collegial institutions of state composed of members styled director. Early directorial systems were the Ambrosian Republic (1447-1450), the Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620), New England Confederation (1643–1686), partially in First Stadtholderless Period of Dutch Republic (1650–1672), Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 and the Directory of 1795–1799 in France.^[5]

The French Directory was inspired by the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, which prominently featured a collegial 12-member Supreme Executive Council with the president in fact only primus inter pares (first among equals). Variants of this form of government, based on the French model, were also established in the European regions conquered by France during the French Revolutionary Wars. Directorial systems have a lower presidentialism metric value compared to presidential systems due to lower concentration of political power in the hands of one individual.^[6] Military juntas differ from the directorial system by not being elected. Utilizing sortition to select multiple executives can lead to a directorial system.