Politics of Dominica
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{{Politics of Dominica}}
'''Politics of Dominica''' takes place in a framework of a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[representative democracy|representative democratic]] [[republic]], whereby the [[Prime Minister of Dominica]] is the [[head of government]], and of a [[multi-party system]]. [[Executive power]] is exercised by the government. [[Legislative power]] is vested in both the [[government]] and the [[House of Assembly of Dominica|House of Assembly]]. The [[Judiciary]] is independent of the executive and the legislature.
==Executive branch==
{{office-table}}
|[[List of Presidents of Dominica|President]]
|[[Nicholas Liverpool]]
|
|[[7 October]] [[2003]]
|-
|[[List of Prime Ministers of Dominica|Prime Minister]]
|[[Roosevelt Skerritt]]
|[[Dominica Labour Party|DLP]]
|[[8 January]] [[2004]]
|-
|[[Leader of the Opposition (Dominica)|Leader of the Opposition]]
|[[Earl Williams (politician)|Earl Williams]]
|[[United Workers' Party (Dominica)|UWP]]
|[[16 July]] [[2007]]
|}
A president and prime minister make up the executive branch. Nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition party, the president is elected for a 5-year term by the parliament. The president appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party in the parliament and also appoints, on the prime minister's recommendation, members of the parliament from the ruling party as cabinet ministers. The prime minister and cabinet are responsible to the parliament and can be removed on a no-confidence vote.
==Legislative branch==
The [[House of Assembly of Dominica|House of Assembly]] has 32 members. 21 members are elected for a five year term in single-seat [[constituency|constituencies]]. 9 members are senators appointed by the President; 5 on the advice of the Prime Minister and 4 on the advice of the leader of the opposition. A Speaker is elected by the elected members after an election. There is also 1 ex-officio member, the clerk of the house. The [[head of state]] - the [[president]] -is elected by the House of Assembly. The regional representatives decide whether senators are to be elected or appointed. If appointed, five are chosen by the president with the advice of the prime minister and four with the advice of the opposition leader. If elected, it is by vote of the regional representatives. Elections for representatives and senators must be held at least every 5 years, although the prime minister can call elections any time.
Dominica has a [[two-party system]], which means that there are two dominant [[political parties]], with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. Dominica was once a three-party system, but in the past few years the [[Dominica Labour Party]] and the greatly diminished [[Dominica Freedom Party]] have built a coalition.
==Political parties and elections==
{{elect|List of political parties in Dominica|Elections in Dominica}}
{{Dominica legislative election, 2005}}
==Judicial branch==
Dominica's legal system is based on English common law. There are three magistrate's courts, with appeals made to the Eastern Caribbean court of appeal and, ultimately, to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] in [[London]]. The [[Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court]] (located in Saint Lucia), one of the six judges must reside in Dominica and preside over the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
==Administrative divisions==
Councils elected by universal suffrage govern most towns. Supported largely by property taxation, the councils are responsible for the regulation of markets and sanitation and the maintenance of secondary roads and other municipal amenities. The island also is divided into 10 parishes, whose governance is unrelated to the town governments: Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Luke, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick, Saint Paul, Saint Peter.
==International organization participation==
ACCT, [[ACP (Lomé Convention)|ACP]], C, [[Caricom]], [[Caribbean Development Bank|CDB]], [[United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean|ECLAC]], [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]], [[Group of 77|G-77]], [[World Bank|IBRD]], [[International Criminal Court|ICC]], ICRM, IDA, [[International Fund for Agricultural Development|IFAD]], [[International Finance Corporation|IFC]], IFRCS, [[International Labour Organization|ILO]], [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]], IMO, [[Interpol]], [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]], [[International Telecommunication Union|ITU]], [[International Trade Union Confederation|ITUC]], [[Non-Aligned Movement|NAM (observer)]], [[Organization of American States|OAS]], [[Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States|OECS]], OPANAL, [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons|OPCW]], [[United Nations|UN]], [[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development|UNCTAD]], [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]], [[United Nations Industrial Development Organization|UNIDO]], [[Universal Postal Union|UPU]], [[World Health Organization|WHO]], [[World Intellectual Property Organization|WIPO]], [[World Meteorological Organization|WMO]], WTrO
== Further reading ==
* Matthias Catón: "Dominica" in: ''Elections in the Americas. A Data Handbook'', vol. 1, ed. by Dieter Nohlen. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005: pp. 223–237 ISBN 0-19-928357-5
[[Category:Politics of Dominica| ]]
[[fr:Politique de la Dominique]]