Answer:A prime minister is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not the head of state of their respective state nor a monarch; rather the prime minister is the head of government, serving typically under a monarch in a hybrid of aristocratic and democratic government forms or a president in a republican form of government.
In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of government and head of the executive branch. In such systems, the head of state or their official representative (e.g., monarch, president, governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers.
Under some presidential systems, such as South Korea and Peru, the prime minister is not the head of government; rather, he or she is only the leader or most senior member of the cabinet.
In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. In a minority of systems, notably in semi-presidential systems of government, a prime minister is the official who is appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of the head of state.
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Today, the prime minister is often, but not always, a member of the Legislature or the Lower House thereof and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarchy may also exercise executive powers (known as the royal prerogative) that are constitutionally vested in the crown and may be exercised without the approval of parliament.
As well as being head of government, being prime minister may require holding other roles or posts—the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, for example, is also First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service.[note 1] In some cases, prime ministers may choose to hold additional ministerial posts (e.g. when its portfolio is critical to that government's mandate at the time): during the Second World War, Winston Churchill was also Minister of Defence (although there was then no Ministry of Defence at the time). Another example is the Thirty-fourth government of Israel (2015-2019), when Benjamin Netanyahu at one point served as the Prime Minister and those of Communications, Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation, Economy, Defense and Interior.
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