In a parliamentary system such as that of England, the
role of the prime minister differs from that of the US president in some important
ways.
First of all, the prime minister is always the leader
of the party that controls the House of Commons. Therefore, he or she never has to
worry very much about getting opposition support for his or her policies. The current
situation in the US, where Pres. Obama has to deal with a Republican House of
Representatives, can never happen in a parliamentary
system.
Second, the prime minister is a member of the
legislative branch -- a member of parliament. As such, the prime minister can introduce
legislation. A US president can only get others to introduce legislation and they may
at times (as with Obama and health care) not introduce bills that are exactly what he
would like. This is not a problem for a prime minister.
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