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Look up plenipotentiary in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The word plenipotentiary (from the Latin, plenus + potens, full + power) has two meanings.
As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers". In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat who is fully authorized to represent their government as a prerogative (e.g., ambassador).
As an adjective, plenipotentiary refers to that which confers "full powers".
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Before the era of rapid international transport (such as cars, trains and aircraft) or virtually instantaneous communication (such as radio or telephone), diplomatic mission chiefs were granted full (plenipotentiary) powers to represent their government in negotiations with their host nation. Conventionally, any representations made or agreements reached with them would be recognized and complied with by their government.
Historically, the common generic term for high diplomats of the crown or state was Minister. It therefore became customary to style the chiefs of full ranking missions as Minister Plenipotentiary. This position was roughly equivalent to the modern Ambassador - a term which historically was reserved mainly for missions between the great powers and also relating to the city state of Venice.
Permanent missions at a bilateral level were chiefly limited to relations between large, neighbouring or closely allied powers. However, diplomatic missions were despatched for specific tasks such as negotiating a treaty bilaterally or via a conference such as the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. In such cases it was normal to send a representative minister empowered to cast votes.
Below the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary there were in some cases a Minister Resident or Resident Minister: a form of which is sometimes seen in colonial indirect rule. Below this again came a Chargé d'affaires who was not accredited to the head of state but represented at government level.
By the time of the Vienna Congress (1814-15), which codified diplomatic relations, Ambassador had become a common title, and was established as the only class above Minister Plenipotentiary; Ambassadors would gradually become the standardised title for bilateral mission chiefs as their ranks no longer tended to reflect the importance of the states, which came to be treated as formally equal.
In modern times, heads of state and of government, and more junior ministers and officials, can easily meet or speak with each other personally. Therefore ambassadors arguably do not require plenipotentiary powers; however they continue to be designated and accredited as extraordinary and plenipotentiary.
As well as diplomatic plenipotentiaries, some permanent administrators are also given plenipotentiary powers. Central governments have sometimes conferred plenipotentiary status (either formally or de facto) on territorial governors. This has been most likely to occur when the remoteness of the administered territory made it impracticable for the central government to maintain and exercise its policies, laws and initiatives directly.
There have been instances where a mandate was conferred publicly on a senior official, such as a minor member of the ruling house (sometimes with the title of viceroy) but with secret instructions limited his or her power drastically by conferring plenipotentiary status on a more junior admninistrator, possibly of lower social class or caste. Thus the formal position held by an individual has not always been a reliable indicator of actual plenpotentiary authority.
Even in modern times, the Plenipotentiary title has been revived sometimes, for example for the administrators of protectorates or in other cases of indirect rule.
Examples of plenpotentiary administration are given below.
On May 18, 2000, in the post-Soviet Russian Federation the title Plenipotentiary of the President was established for the appointees of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in each of the seven federal districts created on May 13: Dalnevostochny (Far Eastern), Privolzhsky (Volga Region), Severo-Zapadny (North Western), Sibirsky (Siberian), Tsentralny (Central), Uralsky (Ural) and Yuzhny (Southern).
This word has been voted as one of the ten English words that are hardest to translate in June 2004 by Today Translations, a British translation company [1]. However, almost the exact word exists in at least some of the Romance languages (such as Portuguese - plenipotenciário; French - plénipotentiaire; Romanian - plenipotenţiar), with the exact same meaning, as well as in other languages (for instance, German - Bevollmächtigt(er) (adjective or noun), Dutch Gevolmachtigd(e), Swedish fullmäktig, Norwegian fullmektig - all these Germanic cases are literal parallels; Czech zplnomocněný (plno=full, moc=power), Bulgarian пълномощен (pǎlnomošten), Finnish täysivaltainen, Greek πληρεξούσιος, plērexoúsios, Turkish tam yetkili, and Tatar wäqälätle.
