Quote:
---Faceman
A prime minister or chancellor (head of government) is elected by parliament or chosen by the president. Most commonly parliament will elect (or the president will choose) the leader of the party with the most popular votes in the elections.
Note that a prime minister or chancellor is NOT the ruler/head of his country but only the leader of the government (the institution which is designed to manage the country) and in most countries he/she does not e.g. have emergency powers (e.g. is the supreme commander of the armed forces).
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Of course, this explanation does not cover Britain, The Netherlands, Austrailia, New Zealand...etc. where the PM *is* the effective head of state and *does* have emergency powers at his/her disposal and *is* the supreme commander of the armed forces...
Easier to say that when a prime minister and president both exist, the president is the higher authority.