Governments classified by mode of succession

A key problem of all political orders is that of succession. “The king is dead; long live the king” was the answer, not always uncontested, of European hereditary monarchy to the question of who should rule after the death of the king. A second, closely related problem is in what manner and by whom a present ruler may be replaced or deprived of power. To this second question hereditary monarchy gave no definite answer, although the concept of diffidatio, or the severance of the bond of allegiance between king and feudal lord, was invoked more than once in the medieval period. Political systems, even those of tribal societies, have approached both problems in a variety of ways. Anthropological records show that tribal chiefs or kings were sometimes selected as a result of ritual tests or the display of magical signs and proofs of divine origin, usually as determined by the tribal elders or magical leaders; in other cases, a principle of heredity, often diluted by a choice among heirs in terms of physique or warrior ability, was applied; in still other cases, the chief was elected, often from among the adult males of a select group of families. Techniques for the removal of tribal rulers were equally varied. Sometimes the ruler would be killed after a specified period or when his magical powers weakened or when his physical prowess or health failed; in other cases the chief was exposed to periodic tests of his magical powers or required to accept challenges to combat from other qualified candidates for rule; and in some cases the elders could remove him from office.

Techniques for assuring the succession are also varied in the modern world. Succession procedures range from the complex traditional Tibetan process of identifying a reincarnated Dalai Lama to the subtle informal procedures by which parliamentary majorities choose a successor to the office of prime minister in Britain. In fact, however, the succession practices of modern political systems appear to be of four main types: (1) heredity, (2) constitutional prescription, (3) election, and (4) force.

Hereditary succession

Although dictators still occasionally seek to establish their sons as their heirs, they usually rely on force rather than the claims of heredity to achieve their object. Apart from a few states where the dynastic ruler is the effective head of the government, the hereditary principle of succession is now almost exclusively confined to the constitutional monarchies of western Europe. There is some irony in the fact that the line of succession is more securely established in these monarchies now than at any point in their earlier history: intradynastic struggle, it appears, is much less likely when kingship is mainly ceremonial. Heredity may be reinforced or modified by constitutional prescription: this was the case, for example, of the famous Act of Settlement that secured the Hanoverian succession in Britain.

Succession by constitutional prescription

A leading example of succession by constitutional prescription is the United States. Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the U.S. provides:

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1967, elaborated these procedures to include further arrangements for dealing with the problem of presidential disability, as well as for filling a vacant vice presidency. The original language of the Constitution has been the basis for the peaceful succession of Vice Presidents John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Gerald R. Ford succeeded to the presidency on the basis of the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Constitutionally prescribed arrangements for ensuring the succession are not always so successful, and many countries whose constitutions contain very similar provisions have experienced succession crises that were resolved only by violence.