What is the Difference Between a President and a Prime Minister?
The differences between a president and a prime minister largely depend on the country to which one is referring. A president and prime minister might have relatively equal powers, but this also depends on the type of government that a country has. There are many inaccurate definitions of the differences, which only help confuse the matter further.
A president usually achieves power by being elected, and a prime minister tends to achieve power by being appointed. The appointing bodies vary. For example, in the United Kingdom, the position of prime minister is appointed by the parliament. It is almost always the case that the parliamentary appointment will be made by the party that has the most members in parliament. In this way, citizens who vote for parliamentary members indirectly influence the choice of prime minister, because a high number of parliamentary members of the same party will elect a prime minister from that party.
In the U.K., elections of a prime minister must occur at least every five years. They can occur with greater frequency if parliament decides to oust a prime minister. Each week, the prime minister must appear before parliament and answer questions regarding his or her decisions. If parliament doesn’t like the answers, the members can immediately decide to convene an election for a new prime minister.
The president of the United States, on the other hand, does not have to answer to the Senate or the House of Representatives, unless the president has committed an illegal act. He or she might propose or support laws in speeches to the Senate or House and might take questions. The House or Senate cannot decide to oust a president without due cause. Also, the president is elected by the people, which means that the House and Senate can be of controlled by a different political party than the one to which the president belongs.
A president, however, might be perceived as having too much power when the House and Senate are both controlled by the party to which the president belongs. It is more likely that a party's agenda will be passed if the president belongs to the same party that controls the Senate and House. Imbalance provides more checks to a president’s power but can make it more difficult for legislation to be passed.
In France, the government is constructed in a way that is similar to that of the U.S., but the French president — who is elected by the people every five years — must appoint a prime minister. Thus, the prime minister is likely to be from the president’s political party. The prime minister in a country with that has a president has less power to act.
In a country where the ruling family appoints the prime minister, the appointee usually acts in concert with the wishes of the country’s nominal heads. The prime minister may be of great assistance in making decisions about foreign and domestic policy, but serves at the pleasure of his king or queen.
It is not so different with the parliamentary prime minister appointment in the United Kingdom. The prime minister is the representative of what parliament wants. To fail to properly represent parliament will often result in dismissal.
The president, conversely, usually does not have to answer to a parliamentary or senatorial body once he or she is elected. He may require the legislative body in order to enact laws, but he can also overrule the legislature. Provided the president does not commit an illegal act, the legislature is not empowered to remove the president. The citizens also may not remove a president, unless the president has in some way committed gross illegal acts. The only possibility for removal of a president people simply don’t like, is through electing someone else at the end of a president’s term.
Written by Tricia Ellis-Christensen
