I.                      Presidents and Prime Ministers

1.         Only sixteen countries in the world have a directly elected president, out of the 60 or so countries that have democratic characteristics; the alternative to a president is a prime minister.

                                                                i.      In a parliamentary system, like in Europe, the legislature, not the people, chooses the leader (the prime minister), who in turn chooses the other ministers from parliament members.

                                                               ii.      The prime minister stays in power as long as his supporting party or coalition stays in power, and the voters vote for members of the parliament (usually by party), not for the leader.

2.        Presidents are usually (but not always) outsiders with little previous major political experience to Washington because they are not usually associated with the “mess in Washington” and voters thus elect them; meanwhile, since prime ministers are from the parliament, they are always insiders.

3.        The President cannot choose Congressional members to be a part of his cabinet, but a prime minister’s cabinet can come from the parliament.

4.        While a president may lead a Congress dominated by the opposing party, a prime minister’s party always controls parliament, and thus, in a parliamentary system, much work can be done quickly while the American system of checks and balances can slow down legislation drastically.

                                                               i.      Even when the executive and legislative branches are manned by the same party, there can be friction, and very little may be done (as in the Kennedy and Carter administrations).