What's the difference between a prime minister and a president?

Question

I see that some countries have both a prime minister and a president. I want to know what their difference in roles is.

Answer 1

A President, like a King, Queen or Governor-General, is the "Head of State." That person, like Queen Elizabeth or President Chirac is the person who represents the final authority of the entire state.

A Prime Minister, like a Premier, Chancellor, is a "Head of Goverment." That person like Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Angela Merkel they are the leaders of the national government.

Some countries have both a "Head of State," i.e. (a President or a King, Queen, Emperor) AND a "Head of Government," (a Prime Minister, Chancellor etc.) such as Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, India, Japan while others have only a President who fills both roles such as the USA and Mexico.

Answer 2

A prime minister is the "head of government", meaning that they control the country's administration and executive. The president is the "head of state", which is the person who is formally in charge of the country. Most presidents are also the head of government as well (in countries that have a prime minister, the head of state is usually someone else and is more ceremonial). The exact power between the two varies depending on country, but generally presidents have more power. Prime ministers rule because their political party has a majority in that country's legislature, and hence they need the support of the legislature to keep going. Presidents do not. So for instance, the Canadian PM gets his power because his party has the most seats in the Canadian House of Commons. If he loses the support of the house he has to resign. The US president, however, doesn't have to worry about that (you'll note that Obama is still the president even though the Republicans control the house of representatives) and can keep going until the next election. Some countries have both a president and a PM. If they do, usually the PM is the one who effectively runs things and the president is a ceremonial figure. If they only have one, whichever one they have is usually the one who runs the show.

Answer 3

Yes some countries do. In the parliamentary system,the Prime Minister is leader and usually head of state. He gets that position because his political party achieved the largest amount of seats in the parliament.

A President is elected by the people or in the American system by an electoral college of people from the 50 us states. To be president in the US you need so many electoral college votes and those come from how many states you win in the popular vote. Unless like in 2000 the American Supreme Court steps in and discounts votes from certain areas because the votes looked different and had hanging chad.

However in other countries the President is elected leader like the Prime Minister in Canada's parliamentary system , but thenthe President can appoint someone to be Prime Minister and I think that's more of a post where the PM keeps a lid on the parliament. Kind of like the Speaker of the House in parliament.

Perhaps someone else can explain it better.

Answer 4

A prime minister is the leader of the political party who won the most parliamentary seats in an election

a president is a head of state who won the most votes.

Simply - in the case of the Republic of Ireland the President is more a figurehead and doesn't have any real power.

Answer 5

It's just a question of title..but they both have the same power..the Prime Minister of Québec has the same power as the President of USA. But if a country has both a Prime Minisiter and President, then the »President has the most Power..the President is the ONE who makes the last decision once he has consulted his prime minister and everyone else..as it takes only ONE to make the last decision good or bad.

Answer 6

lol, good question, should know that

a prime minister runs parliament,
while a president or monarch is the head figure of the government

nowadays, it is often such that the prime minister carries the power and the king or queen will be simply a figure their for historical purposes (england, japan, etc.), however, there certainly are countries with acting presidents and prime ministers

Answer 7

In a parliamentary system, Prime Minister is the Head of State, and the President is a symbolic, neutral position.

Answer 8

president is the head of a republic - a prime minister is the elected head of a sovereign state so theres also a king and queen (unelected)

Answer 9

prime minister has less power than a president and its only in more religious countries (i think)