Compare and Contrast the Powers of a Prime Minister and a President - Essay Example

This essay examines the structural differences between the positions of the president against that of the prime minister. While in a Western context the most notable distinction between prime minister and president occurs between the United Kingdom and the United States, it should be noted that these positions exist in many country formats. In these regards, the structural distinctions between the positions are highly reliant on the nation in which they are examined. Still, there are a variety of major characteristics that generally distinguish between these positions.

One of the major distinctions that oftentimes distinguish these positions is the nature of how the individual in the position gained the position. For the presidency, these individuals are generally elected by a democratic electorate (Derbyshire, 1996). Conversely, prime ministers are oftentimes appointed by governing bodies. One notes that this is the case in the United Kingdom, where the prime minister is appointed by parliament. While the president is elected through a political party system, the prime minister is appointed by majority members of parliament. . In these regards, the president has more control and significantly less oversight than the prime minister, as the president doesn’t have to answer to either the Senate of the House of Representatives unless they undergo impeachment proceedings.

While it’s clear that the prime minister faces significantly more oversight than the president, it’s also clear that the prime minister is given significant more decision making power. In these regards, the main consideration is that as the prime minister is appointed by the majority members of parliament, they in-a-sense are have the combined powers of the legislative and executive branches. In further understanding the significant power that is granted prime ministers one must examine them in greater specificity.

One notable distinction between regions with presidents is generally the decided lack of a Monarch. In many degrees the prime minister enacts the prerogative powers of the Monarch (James, 2007). In these regards, the prime minister’s powers extend beyond even the legislative/executive hybrid to present the prime minister as a sort of head of state. This is notably different than the presidency, which occurs in a political climate that is entirely void of a Monarchy. One can witness the articulation of power in the distinguishing president and prime minister positions in terms of decisions surrounding hostile or war actions.

In the United States system there is considerable interaction between the executive and legislative branches. For instance, in determining elements that related to the potential war actions in Iraq after the September 11th attacks, the United