The American President Versus The British Prime Minister: Who Is More Powerful Essay Examples

In today’s modern world, the most powerful executives are the British Prime Minister and The American President. There have been many debates on who is more powerful of the two. They often end at a standoff as the evidence presented does not clearly edge one institution ahead of the other. In this essay, I will attempt to prove which of the two offices is more powerful by outlining and comparing the powers and duties of both.
More often than not, the American President is referred to as the most powerful man in the world. His power is however limited by the American federal structure unlike the British Prime Minister. The Congress and the Supreme Court act as a check and balance system to the power of the office of the president (Wilson 11). The American constitution clearly outlines the duties of the president and tethers the institution to it. The clauses can only be amended by the Supreme Court. The constitution confers an impressive array of powers to the President that include that of the commander in chief of the armed forces, the power to veto, to appoint and to pardon. Although the President is the commander in chief of the armed forces, the military budget is decided upon by the congress. His appointees that include judges, ambassadors and consuls have to be vetted and agreed upon by the senate. His pardon is limitless with the exception of pardoning impeachment cases (Korey & John 14).
Although the American president is head of the legislators, he himself does not have the power to make laws. He assents bills passed by parliaments and sometimes refuses to sign them on as laws. The parliament however can ignore his recommendations. In extreme cases the President can issue executive orders which have the force of law. He can also initiate a bill in Congress through a representative member. (Buckley 73)
The American President can only serve for a maximum of two four year terms if voted in by the Electoral College. The last term in office of the President is usually marred with allegations of being a’ sitting duck’.
Britain is governed by an unwritten constitution. It is unmodified and is not contained in one document. The institution of the Prime Minister therefore evolves and adopts with the ever changing constitution. The contribution to legislation by the European court is ambiguous. By comparison the power of the European Court does not even come close to the power that the Supreme Court of America wields.
The British government has two executives; the Monarch and the Prime Minister. The Monarch does not actively participate in the nation’s politics. The Monarch reigns but the Prime minister rules. The power accrued by the Prime Minister allows him to: choose, restructure or discharge cabinet ministers, confer honors to honorees, decide on agenda for government business and cabinet meetings, form new peers to the House of Lords, hold back sensitive information from parliament as he sees fit, use the media to execute his duties, appoint top civil servants, bishops and judges, and to dissolve the houses of parliament and by doing so call for a general election. (Palekar 40) The powers that the PM possesses are obviously copious as demonstrated by his duties and statements by scholars such as Richard Crossman who wrote: “the Prime Minister is now the apex of not only a highly centralized political machine but also a highly centralized and vastly more powerful administrative machine” (Palekar 40). The Prime Minister heads both the executive i.e. he is the head of government and the legislature (he is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons). A combination of these powers is heady and makes the authority of the PM almost absolute.
The Prime Minister is also the Head of State. He represents the nation in matters of diplomacy and negotiation of treaties. As the head of government, the cabinet is the tool of the Prime Minister and therefore government policy is essentially his creation. He is the chairman of several cabinet committees and as such he arranges meetings with different ministers and with the advisors and assistants of different ministries. As a result, the British Cabinet has often been referred to as an endorsement body of prêt-à-porter decisions (Crossman 41). The Prime Minister is not tethered to any particular department like his other colleagues. His is to co-ordinate government policies. His impact on them is immense.
If it were not for the numerous restraints on the powers of the Prime Minister, he would be an autocrat. Because he solely relies on public mandate to get into office, he cannot allow his cabinet to be full of ‘yes men’ neither can he allow his government record to be tarnished. He also cannot appear as undemocratic or too overbearing as he will lose the support of his party. This spells failure for him regardless of his power to recompense allegiance. (Anthony Stephen King, pg 81). Consequently the PM has as much power as the party decides to bestow on him. If ever another parliamentarian decides to challenge the PM’s position as party leader, he has to depend on his party to award him with the position once more ergo all the power he has. The Prime Minister can only be removed from power if the majority party revolts.
The limits of power of the American President are outlined in article II of the American Constitution. This article gives the Congress the power to remove a sitting President from office. The President cannot remove a senator from office as the senate ratifies the cabinet. If a President proposes a budget, it has to go through the House of Representatives and the Cabinet which may reject the proposal if they so wish. In Britain however the PM’s proposed budget is presented in parliament regardless of their opinion. (Wilson 27).
When the duties of the two most powerful executives in the world today are analyzed, it still remains difficult to decide which of the two is the most powerful. The power of both heads of government is limited by various systems of checks and balances and they are both not all-powerful. Therefore this debate rages on, until the time the powers of either office will be redefined. Until then, neither team wins.