A nation or any organization has several different official individuals such as ministers, presidents, and more. All the officials have different responsibilities, functions, and roles. Depending upon their roles and responsibilities, these officials can be differentiated from each other. Ambassadors and governors are two such people who come under the same category, that is officials or diplomats, but they have many dissimilarities.
Ambassador vs Governor
The main difference between an ambassador and a governor is that an ambassador is an official person who is the representative of an organization, a territory, a nation, or anything such. On the other hand, a governor is an official person who holds the power of a certain territory or an organization or anything such.
An ambassador is a person who represents his or her territory at an international level, such as in host countries. The ambassador works on solving the international affairs in which the home country of the ambassador is either directly involved or indirectly. However, the ambassador is not just referred to as a person who is appointed by the government, but it can also be regarded as any representative who works on representing something on a bigger level.
As suggested by the name, a governor is a person who governs over something, such as a state, a region, or a territory. A governor has several different powers in several different aspects such as executive powers, legislative powers, discretionary powers, financial powers, and more.
Comparison Table Between Ambassador and Governor
| Parameters of comparison | Ambassador | Governor |
| Role | The role of an ambassador is to represent something. | The role of a governor is to govern over something. |
| Appointed by | An ambassador is appointed by the president of the nation along with recommendations of the prime minister and the minister of external affairs. | A governor is appointed by the president. |
| Powers | An ambassador holds more powers in international affairs. | A governor holds more power within the territory he or she is governing upon. |
| Government bodies | Ambassadors may or may not be government bodies. | Governors are always government bodies. |
| Rank | Ambassadors are higher ranked diplomats than governors. | Governors are not ranked as high as ambassadors. |
Who is an Ambassador?
An ambassador is an official person who works as a representative of a state or a nation or any organization in any international affair. There are majorly two different types of ambassadors. Depending upon what the ambassador is representing, the type of ambassador can vary. The two types of ambassadors are diplomatic ambassadors and non-diplomatic ambassadors.
Diplomatic ambassadors are the ones which work on representing a state or a nation in international affairs. These ambassadors are appointed by the government. Diplomatic ambassadors participate in all the international affairs of the nation he or she is an ambassadors of. Moreover, an ambassador also has powers over a certain territory which are provided to him or her by the government of the nation itself. The territory over which the government has powers is commonly known as an embassy.
On the other hand, a non-diplomatic ambassador is an official person who represents any organization or any company on an international level. Many companies appoint ambassadors. Their responsibility is to represent their company internationally and thus increase their sales. Such types of ambassadors are commonly known as brand ambassadors.
Apart from just representing something, an ambassador holds many other roles and responsibilities as well. It is the responsibility of a diplomatic ambassador to protect the citizens of the country he or she is the ambassador of in the other country, also known as the host country.
Who is a Governor?
A governor is appointed by the government to govern over a state or a territory. Depending upon what region a governor is governing, the type of governor can vary. There are majorly two types of governors, that are, general or state governors and lieutenant governors or administrators.
A state governor, as suggested by the name, is an official person appointed by the government whose responsibility is to govern over a state of the respective nation. On the other hand, lieutenant governors or also known as administrators is the official person appointed by the government to govern over a union territory.
However, not all union territories are kept under the control of the governor. The union territories which can be kept under the control of a governor are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, Ladakh, and lastly, Delhi. For the rest of the union territories, there are lieutenant governors appointed, however, they do not have complete powers when it comes to governing. Instead, lieutenant governors in the other union territories work in coordination with other officials which are also appointed by the government. These officials could be a retired judge of any high court, supreme court or an IAS officer, or an IPS officer.
Main Differences Between Ambassador and Governor
- An ambassador is an official person who represents something at a bigger level. On the other hand, a governor is an official person who governs something upon which he has powers.
- An ambassador serves for a term of about 3 years on average. Whereas, a governor can serve or govern over its territory for 5 years.
- An ambassador can be a representative of anything, such as sales, a company, a state, a city, or more. On the contrary, a governor can govern upon only a territory he or she is appointed for.
- Governors are of two types, that are state governors and lieutenant governors. On the other hand, ambassadors are of two types, that are diplomatic ambassadors or nondiplomatic ambassadors.
- An ambassador has a higher diplomatic rank as compared to a governor on an international level. On the contrary, a governor has a lower diplomatic rank as compared to an ambassador at an international level.
Conclusion
The major difference between the two officials or the two diplomats, that is an ambassador and a governor lies in their role. Both of them have different roles, and as their roles differ, consequently their responsibilities and functions would differ as well. With the change in nations and their rules and regulations, the role and responsibilities of an ambassador and a governor also changes.
References
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zeWDE1fbNtwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=ambassador&ots=xYk59JBCZq&sig=fEyBC5Db5R5Vq48B8bIHWCxsNls
- https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400887576/html