Head of state succession is the process by which

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

s transfer leadership of their highest office from one person to another. The succession of a

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

can be brought about through various means, the most common of which include: *

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

of the current head of state * A military

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

against the present

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

* A general

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

* A

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

by the national

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

* Hereditary succession or appointment by a pre-determined council *

Resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

(usually of a president) * Impeachment (usually of a president) *

Abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

(usually of a monarch)

Dramatic portrayals

The changing of national leadership has been the topic of several films, novels, and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series, including the following: * The film ''

Der Untergang ''Downfall'' (german: Der Untergang, it, La caduta – Gli ultimi giorni di Hitler) is a 2004 German-language historical drama, historical war film, war drama film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by its producer, Bernd Eichin ...

'' details the last days of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

to include the succession procedure enacted by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

after the

death of Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, died by suicide via gunshot on 30 April 1945 in the in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Eur ...

* '' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'' dealt with the succession of the Klingon Chancellor after an assassination against the reigning

Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids c ...

Head of State. Several episodes of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' dealt more in depth with the exact procedures of transferring the leadership of the

Klingon High Council In the fictional '' Star Trek'' universe the Klingon High Council (in Klingon tlhIngan yejquv) is the supreme ruling body of the Klingon Empire. The council meets at the Great Hall of the First City of the Klingon Empire on the planet Qo'noS (al ...

from one person to another. * Although '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2003) is not set on Earth, the political structures of the 12 Colonies of Kobol closely resemble those of the United States. During the Cylon attack, Secretary of Education

Laura Roslin Laura Roslin is a fictional character in the re-imagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' series, portrayed by Mary McDonnell. She is the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and is one of the primary characters in the show. Character biography ...

receives a message from the Case Orange automated beacon, a special mechanism seeking communication with any surviving Colonial government officials. After verifying her identity, she learns that—other than herself—all members of President Richard Adar's government have apparently been killed or are missing. The Case Orange response assigns Roslin new instructions, and she (the 43rd in the line of succession) is duly sworn in as president. * ''

King Ralph ''King Ralph'' is a 1991 American comedy film written and directed by David S. Ward and starring John Goodman, Peter O'Toole, and John Hurt. The film is about an American who becomes the unlikely King of the United Kingdom after an electrical ac ...

:'' The entire British Royal Family is killed in a freak accident, and controversially the next person in line to the throne is a working-class American (

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC comedy series ''Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he rec ...

References

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