Blair or Bush

[Homer55]

Whats the difference between a prime minister and a President? is it just they are called different names or is there an actual difference?

[bigmalc]

A president can only exist in a Republic, where they are the head of state and independently appointed from the government. A Prime Minister is the head of the government (ie chosen from within the majority party by his/her colleagues) within a monarchy.

Thus George Bush is (theoretically!) elected directly by the people. On voting slips for the General election his name will appear. However, in the UK, when you vote in an election, you vote for your constituent MP, which - unless you live in County Durham - will not be Tony Blair.

An old way of describing the role of the Prime Minister is 'Primus Inter Pares', which means First Among Equals.

[Homer55]

cheers

[jake-the-peg]

There are huge differences in powers between presidents in different countries.

The Irish president has very few powers for example whereas the French President has far reaching powers even extending to the law courts.

have a look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President

[wizard69]

how does this work in a country that has both a president AND a prime minister...france or israel for example?

[jake-the-peg]

In France it works like this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/ thumb/4/4e/French_government.svg/522px-French_ government.svg.png

And if this doesn't confuse you nothing will!

[commonsense]

They're both morons but one has more nuclear warheads. Thats the difference