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Heads of state
A head of state is the official leader and representative of a country. The head of state position can vary from ceremonial figurehead with limited power to powerful leader depending on the government structure and historical legacy of the country. For instance, in some cases heads of state inherit the position through a monarchy whereas others are indirectly or directed elected such as a presidents. Several examples are included below.

United States
The President of the United States is elected indirectly. In a US presidential election, eligible members of the public vote for the electors of an Electoral College, who have previously pledged publicly to support a particular presidential candidate. When the Electoral College sits, soon after the election, it formally elects the candidate that has won a majority of the members of the Electoral College. Members of the federal cabinet, including the vice president, are in practice nominated by the president, and are thus elected indirectly. The Electoral College is a controversial issue in U.S. politics, especially following presidential elections when voting is polarized geographically in such a way that the electoral college elects a candidate who did not win an absolute majority of the popular vote. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, if enacted, would replace the indirect election via the Electoral College with a de facto plurality based direct election.

China
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China specifies a system of indirect democracy. The National People's Congress elects the president, also known as the state chairman, who serves as head of state. The power of the presidency is largely ceremonial, the vast majority of power stems from the president's position as leader of the Communist Party and head of the military.

European Union
The president of the European Commission is nominated by the European Council and confirmed or denied by the directly elected European Parliament (see Elections to the European Parliament).

Parliamentary systems
Republics with parliamentary systems usually elect their head of state indirectly (e.g. Germany, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Hungary, India, Israel, Bangladesh). Several parliamentary republics, such as Ireland, Austria, Croatia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, operate using a semi-presidential system with a directly elected president distinct from the prime minister.

Heads of government
A head of government is in charge of the daily business of government and overseeing central government institutions. In presidential systems the president is the head of government and head of state. In parliamentary systems the head of government is usually the leader of the party with the most seats in the legislature. Several examples of heads of government who are chosen through indirect elections are summarized below.

Prime Minister
The most prominent position in parliamentary democracies is the prime ministership.

Under the Westminster system, named after and typified by the parliament of the United Kingdom, a prime minister (or first minister, premier, or chief minister) is the person that can command the largest coalition of supporters in parliament. In almost all cases, the prime minister is the leader of a political party (or coalition) that has a majority in the parliament, or the lower house (such as the House of Commons), or in the situation that no one party has a majority then the largest party or a coalition of smaller parties may attempt to form a minority government. The prime minister is thus indirectly elected as political parties elect their own leader through internal democratic process, while the general public choose from amongst the local candidates of the various political parties or independents.

The Westminster model continues to be used in a number of Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Additionally many nations colonized by the British Empire inherited the Westminster model following their independence.

In Spain, the Congress of Deputies votes on a motion of confidence of the king's nominee (customarily the party leader whose party controls the Congress) and the nominee's political manifesto, an example of an indirect election of the prime minister of Spain.

Federal Chancellor
In Germany, the federal chancellor - the most powerful position on the federal level - is elected indirectly by the Bundestag, which in turn is elected by the population. The federal president, the head of state, proposes candidates for the chancellor's office. Although this has never happened, the Bundestag may in theory also choose to elect another person into office, which the president has to accept.

Appointment
Some countries have nonpartisan heads of government who are appointed by the president, such as the Prime Minster of Singapore.