Chancellor Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Chancellor is a term used in some countries for a government minister or official. The chancellor is the head of government in Austria and Germany, having powers akin to a prime minister in a parliamentary system, but in other cases, the term is reserved for a lesser, more specialized official.

In ancient Rome, the chancellors, or cancellarii, sat in the courts of law at the cancelli, or lattice work screens, that separated the judge and council from the audience. Societies that trace their history back to Roman times frequently employ the term chancellor for ministers or judicial officials; however, the term is also employed anachronistically to high-ranking officials in the ancient Chinese and Egyptian empires.

The most powerful chancellors are those in Austria and Germany, where they are known as bundeskanzler, or federal chancellors. When Germany was first united under Chancellor Otto van Bismarck in 1871, the chancellor was appointed by the kaiser, or emperor, but after World War I (1914–1918), the chancellor was appointed by the German president. Then, after World War II (1939–1945), the introduction of democracy meant that the German chancellor would be selected by the bundestag, the lower house of parliament. In Austria, the president technically appoints the chancellor, but because government ministers must have the support of the National Council, the lower house of parliament, the president traditionally names the head of the largest party in the Nationalrat to be chancellor. In both countries, the chancellor is the head of government and exercises more political power than any other official. German and Austrian chancellors have similar powers to prime ministers in other parliamentary systems, such as that of Great Britain or Spain, meaning they appoint the cabinet, are responsible for submitting proposals to the parliament, and have the power to dismiss parliament and call for early elections. However, they are accountable to parliament, which means they can be removed if the parliament passes a vote of no confidence.

Elsewhere, chancellors serve a more subordinate role in government. In Switzerland, the federal chancellor is elected by the Swiss parliament, and heads the federal chancellery, the general staff of the seven-member executive Federal Council that makes up the Swiss government. This is more of an administrative position than a political position, as the Swiss chancellor participates in the meetings of the federal councilors with only a consultative vote and the primary responsibility is to prepare policy and activity reports. In the United Kingdom, the lord chancellor serves as the head of the English judiciary and the Department for Constitutional Affairs, and was, until 2006, speaker of the House of Lords. The chancellor of the exchequer is the minister responsible for the treasury, the equivalent to a minister of finance, and a very prominent official in British government. In Finland, the chancellor of justice supervises the legality of actions taken by government, and in Sweden, the chancellor of justice serves as the solicitor general. In several Latin American countries, the term chancellor is reserved for the minister or secretary in charge of foreign affairs. Chancellors also served as high-ranking state officials in the kingdoms of France, Denmark and the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, and in imperial Russia, chancellor was the highest rank in the civil service.

In the United States, the only national-level office with such a title is the chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, a ceremonial office held by the chief justice of the United States. Some states have a court of chancery who oversee equity cases, and the judges on these courts are known as chancellors. The term chancellor is also often employed as a title for a university academic official or the head of state departments of education.

Bibliography:

Hancock, M. Donald, and Henry Krisch. Politics in Germany. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2009.
Helms, Ludger. Institutions and Institutional Change in the Federal Republic of Germany. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.
Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Chancellors: Executive Leadership in Western Democracies. New York: Palgrave, 2005.