Has the Prime Minister Become Presidential?
Britain is one of the nations in the world that has retained the monarchical form of governance. There is the queen position which is hereditary as it has remained over the years. However, the position is more or less ceremonial, an identity for the British people. The queen ship position tends to set the trend for the Britons and acts as a symbol of unity in the country and other commonwealth nations. The administrative powers lay with the office of the prime minister. According to History Learning (2012), the political structure in the Great Britain has developed in such a manner that so much powers have been vested in the prime minister to a point where political analysts argue that the country has a prime ministerial government as opposed to a cabinet government. This sparks the debate as to whether the prime minister’s position has become presidential. The matter is expounded in the paragraphs below.
First of all, there is the need to look at the powers vested in the Prime Minister of Britain. While looking at these powers, it is important to have in mind that in considering the position to be presidential, it should be remembered that the nations that have presidents such as the US do have a way in which the powers of the president are regulated. This does not exist in Britain, implying that if the Prime Minister’s position was assumed to be presidential, then the nation would have a leader with so much powers and who can decide to do anything since he is not under the checks and balances of the law. This would be quite risky as it would be a precursor to dictatorship.
Among the general powers of the British Prime Minister is the mandate to appoint, reshuffle, or even dismiss the cabinet ministers. As History Learning (2002) indicates, this could mean that the people appointed to the Cabinet have to be in good terms with the Prime Minister. Otherwise they would stand no chance. He also has the powers to give out honors, create new peers into the House of Lords, end the life of a government and calls for elections, appoint civil servants, judges, bishops and ambassadors, as well as the powers to use lobby systems to use the media (History Learning, 2012). This is an indication that the Prime Minister has got quite a lot of power and authority.
Hall (2012) looks at a further classification of the Prime Minister’s powers and these include the patronage powers, head of the government policy, senior representative for the country overseas, royal prerogatives as well as the spokesman for the government. All these powers indicate that the British Prime Minister is quite a strong and Influential figure in the administration of the country.
Even though there are all these powers vested in the prime minister, there is the debate as to whether he is presidential or not. The political analysts feel that the nature of powers invested in him and the responsibilities tend to align to those of a president. However, it is worth noting that the presidential position is an elected post. This implies that the president is given the powers to rule by the electorate through a national vote. This does not happen in the case of a prime minister. The latter is not chosen by the electorate but by the legislative body so as to act as its leader (Cunningham, 2010). Furthermore, the president is the head of a state. He is given the powers and the mandate to rule a country through the electoral process as stated above. This implies that the president has much power which has been made legitimate by the election process. On the other hand, the prime minister’s position is the leader of the government. This implies that he does not have the mandate to act as the ruler of the country since his office is concerned with the government.
Another major difference between the two is that since the president is the leader of a country, appointed by the people and given the mandate to rule, he is not answerable to any legislative body. His powers are only regulated by the legislations of the country and other legal documents such as the constitution. He is answerable to the people of the country (Cunningham, 2010). The Prime Minister, on the other hand, is answerable to the legislative body of his country. In this case, the British PM is answerable to the two legislative houses since they appointed him to that position.
Based on the above discussion, it can be argued that there is no way that the British PM can become presidential. He does not have the legal mandate to do so since he is not elected through a democratic process. His position is just an appointment, which means that he might not be a favorite of the people. As such, arguing that the British PM has become or is becoming presidential would be a gross mistake.
Cunningham, D. (2010). The Political Systems of the World. Thousand Oaks, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Hall. D. (2012). UK Government & Politics: The Powers of the Prime Minister. Retrieved on 11th Nov. 2012 from http://suite101.com/article/uk-government--politics-the-powers-of-the-prime-minister-a264996
