Editing Politics of Dominica

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{{Sources|date=October 2017}}{{Politics of Dominica}}
The '''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 [[Forms of government|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]]
|[[Sylvanie Burton]]
|[[Dominica Labour Party|Labour Party]]
|2 October 2023
|-
|[[List of Prime Ministers of Dominica|Prime Minister]]
|[[Roosevelt Skerritt]]
|[[Dominica Labour Party|Labour Party]]
|8 January 2004
|}

[[File:Roseau - State House (8760066984).jpg|thumb|[[Government House, Dominica]]]]
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 five-year term by the parliament. The president appoints as prime minister the person who command the majority of elected representatives in the parliament and also appoints, on the prime minister's recommendation, members of the parliament as cabinet ministers. The prime minister and cabinet are responsible to the parliament and can be removed on a no-confidence vote.

==Legislative branch==
{{main|House of Assembly of Dominica}}
[[File:Roseau - Parliament (8760066930).jpg|thumb|House of Assembly of Dominica]]
The [[House of Assembly of Dominica|House of Assembly]] has 32 members.  Twenty-one members are elected for a five-year term in single-seat [[constituency|constituencies]].  Nine members are senators appointed by the President; five on the advice of the Prime Minister and four on the advice of the leader of the opposition.  The [[Mr. Speaker|Speaker]] is elected by the elected members after an election.  There is also one [[ex officio]] member, the clerk of the house.  The [[head of state]] – the [[list of presidents of Dominica|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 five years, although the prime minister can call elections at 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}}

==Judicial branch==
Dominica's legal system is based on English common law. There are three magistrate's courts and a High Court of Justice. Appeals can be made to the [[Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court|Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal]] and, ultimately, to the [[Caribbean Court of Justice]].

The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is headquartered in [[Saint Lucia]], but at least one of its 16 High Court judges must reside in Dominica and preside over the High Court of Justice. Dominica's current High Court judges are The Hon. [[Brian Cottle]] and The Hon. [[M. E. Birnie Stephenson-Brooks]].<ref name="High Court judges">{{cite web| url = http://www.eccourts.org/commonwealth-of-dominica/| title = Judicial Officers of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the Commonwealth of Dominica}}</ref>

==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 of Dominica|parishes]], whose governance is unrelated to the town governments: [[Saint Andrew Parish, Dominica|Saint Andrew]], [[Saint David Parish, Dominica|Saint David]],  [[Saint George Parish, Dominica|Saint George]], [[Saint John Parish, Dominica|Saint John]], [[Saint Joseph Parish, Dominica|Saint Joseph]], [[Saint Luke Parish, Dominica|Saint Luke]], [[Saint Mark Parish, Dominica|Saint Mark]], [[Saint Patrick Parish, Dominica|Saint Patrick]], [[Saint Paul Parish, Dominica|Saint Paul]], and [[Saint Peter Parish, Dominica|Saint Peter]].

==International organization participation==
* [[ACP (Lomé Convention)|ACP]]
* [[Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas|ALBA]]
* [[Caricom]]
* [[Caribbean Development Bank|CDB]]
* [[Community of Latin American and Caribbean States|CELAC]]
* [[Commonwealth of Nations]]
* [[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]]
* [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|ICRM]]
* IDA
* [[International Fund for Agricultural Development|IFAD]]
* [[International Finance Corporation|IFC]]
* IFRCS
* [[International Labour Organization|ILO]]
* [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]]
* IMO
* [[Interpol (organization)|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 internationale de la Francophonie|OIF]]
* [[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]]
* [[World Trade Organization|WTO]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Matthias Catón: "Dominica" in: ''Elections in the Americas. A Data Handbook'', vol. 1, edited by Dieter Nohlen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005: pp.&nbsp;223–237 {{ISBN|0-19-928357-5}}

{{Americas topic|Politics of}}

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[[Category:Politics of Dominica| ]]