Status ustrojowy prezydenta jako głowy państwa

Abstract

The subject of this article are some rekarks on the constitutional position of the president as a head of state. It is usually said that a president is just a head of state. Actually, in common sense, a president and a head of state are synonyms. It shpudl be indicated that neither historical reflection nor any theoretical argumentation concerning in particular his position as a head of state influenced by the regulations of international law were presented. But first of all range of his functions and competences itself shows that the thesis which is based on the assertation that a president is head of state is a kind of simplification. The main purpose of this article was to recollect that a head of state is just one of his functions. It may determine his constitutional status particularily in many countries where the system can be designated as a parliamentary - and - cabinet government and where the most important office of the political influence is occupied by the prime minister or by the chancellor. President is not regarded to be responsible for the corrent policy. His main role is to personify the state as it is, to unite the citizens beyond their political options and to maintain the feeling of a psychological need of the formal authority and the real prestige. Of course, a combination of strong pressures in domestic and foreign policy have resulted in a steady expansion of the executive branch of government and have caused executive powers to be concentrated in the collective government. Formally, a president is classified as a member of the executive branch but in fact the described function simply originates from the former position and from the authority of monarchy. The legal competences resulting from this function are of special kind and they do not let govern or exercise a role of the political authority. Moreover, some remarks on the constitutional position of Polish President were presented to emphasice a lot of oversights and imperfections of the way of constitutional regulations.