Figure head? 挂名首脑

Reader question:

Please explain this sentence, "figure head" in particular: "As a vice chairman of the calligraphers association, he is a figure head. In fact, there are several vice chairmen in our association. They are all figure heads."

My comments:

This probably means that if you want to get any deal or something done with the calligraphers association, you should talk to the chairman of the association directly. Talking to "him", a vice chairman, is a waste of time.

Talking to any of the other chairmen is also a waste of time. They, like "him", are all figureheads. That's to say, their role or function is largely ceremonial. They have no real responsibilities and wield no real power.

Presumably, all decision making goes to the chairman.

Anyways, a figure head or figurehead, one word, originally is the carved head of a person (figure) in the front of a ship, presumably identifying this ship from other ships, which all used to have such a figure head of their own. I am talking about the second half of the 18th Century, 1765 being the time the first figureheads appeared.

Figureheads being a symbol of a ship, the word later took on a new meaning, becoming synonym for being symbolic or ornamental.

In our example, hence, a vice chairman being a figure head means that his role or position is merely formal or nominal, or in form or name only.

You may argue that the chairman of a calligraphers association is also a figure head, as the association itself has no serious business to deal with, but that's a different issue in its entirety. We'd better remain where we are and talk about the vice chairman's role as being nominal or ornamental.

After all, there are "several vice chairmen" in our example.

Oh, these vice chairmen remind me of Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States. His position is kind of like that of a vice chairman of a calligraphers association. All Pence has to do, you see, is to stand behind Donald Trump, who is the President, and do such things as clap hands and smile broadly while the President speaks.

Or try his best to suppress a chuckle when President Trump makes a gaffe.

Whatever. Being vice president, Pence's main job is, and this is no secret, not to upstage Trump.

Trump wants to look good. Pence's job is to make sure of that.

In this regard, Pence is really doing something and, in all fairness, doing a heck of a good job.

Now read some media examples of figure heads in other situations:

1. The terms kingdom and empire are generally used in the same sense though there is some difference between the two. One of the main points to remember is this. An empire is ruled by an emperor whereas a kingdom is ruled by a king. In other words, it can be said that a country with a king (or queen) as the head of the state is called a kingdom. The term empire is derived from the Latin ‘imperium’. Imperium means power or authority. States and people of various ethnic groups constitute an empire. Some of the best examples of empires of the world are the British Empire, the Spanish Empire, and the Holy Roman Empire.

What is a Kingdom?

A kingdom is a domain ruled by a king or a queen. The normal ruler of a kingdom is a king. So how does a queen comes to power? This happens if the next heir to the throne is a female. Also, sometimes if the king dies, his wife becomes the ruler. So, she gains power as the queen. Even when the king is there the title of queen remains. This can be a reference to the king’s mother or wife. To gain full controlling power of the kingdom, a queen has to be the sole ruler without a king. A kingdom ruled by one king is called a monarchy whereas a kingdom ruled by many kings is called oligarchy. If it is ruled by two kings it is called diarchy. The United Kingdom comprises the England, Scotland and Wales that fall under the direct rule of the monarch (king or queen).

In the older times, a kingdom was created by conquest or the king inherited the right to rule from the family. In the modern day, there are still kingdoms. These kingdoms exist as traditional or constitutional monarchies. For example, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Nepal, and Spain are examples for constitutional monarchies. Constitutional monarchies are the kingdoms where the king or queen is a figure head. They do not participate in decision-making as there is a government to do that. Then, there are traditional monarchies as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, etc. These kingdoms have the old way of ruling. That means these kingdoms are still ruled by kings. There are no governments in these kingdoms.

- Difference Between Kingdom and Empire, DifferenceBetween.com, December 24, 2010.

2. Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's 36-year-old son-in-law, is a senior adviser in the Trump administration. Though Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, did not have an official role during Trump's campaign, he was nevertheless seen as a "de facto campaign manager," and he later served as a member of Trump's transition team.

Though Kushner was one of the most influential people in Trump's circle — someone who enjoyed "a Rasputin-like power" with Trump — his influence has reportedly shrunk in the months since Trump took office.

Here's what you need to know about Kushner:

...

Some suspect that Jared is a figurehead and that Charles actually runs Kushner Companies. Regardless, they work on the same floor of 666 Fifth Ave., a building Jared purchased in 2007 for $1.8 billion. At the time, it was the most anyone had paid for a building in New York City.

While his father was serving time in Alabama, Jared visited him on weekends. "He was the best son to his father in jail, the best son to his mother, who suffered terribly, and he was a father to his siblings," Charles told New York magazine in 2009. As a testament to his father, Jared said in the same New York profile, "I speak with my father about everything in my life." Before she married Jared, Ivanka described the father-son relationship as "really beyond beautiful."

- Who Is Jared Kushner? 24 Things You Need to Know About Donald Trump's Son-in-Law, Cosmopolitan.com, February 27, 2018.

3. Does Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers really have the power to make you stay home?

The short answer: Yes.

For the long answer, keep reading.

"One thing to keep in mind, particularly during a crisis like this, is that state actors and governors in particular can often just act more swiftly and more nimbly than the federal government can," University of Wisconsin Law School professor Miriam Seifter said.

Seifter studies administrative law and constitutional law; much of her recent work has focused on the powers of state leaders.

"I think another aspect of this is that states are the front lines of public health defense," Seifter continued. "The federal government has a crucial role to play, but it’s the states that really do the actions that protect public health and safety in the ways that affect people’s day to day lives."

In a Harvard Law Review article, Seifter writes about the evolution of gubernatorial powers over history. Early state constitutions were designed to make the governor's office weak; the framers were concerned about corruption because they believed colonial governors abused their power.

After World War II, the idea of centralizing state government started to take hold more rapidly.

"Governors, who at the founding, were sort of powerless actors who were figureheads, have become real point people for operationalizing state emergency responses," Seifter said.

Wisconsin law gives the governor the power to declare a public health emergency. During that time, he can bypass certain rule-making processes, seize property, and issue orders "necessary for the security of persons and property."

- Can he do that? The law (and history) behind the governor’s emergency powers, Fox6News.com, March 23, 2020.

About the author:

 Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.