Topic summary
Reserve powers
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Reserve power.
Republics
Reserve powers can also be written into a republican constitution that separates the offices of head of state and head of government. This was the case in Germany under the Weimar Republic and is still the case in the French Fifth Republic, the Italian republic, and the Republic of Ireland. Reserve powers may include, for instance, the right to issue emergency legislation or regulation bypassing the normal processes. In most states, the head of state's ability to exercise reserve powers is explicitly defined and regulated by the text of the constitution.