Created: 2009-04-29 02:17:00

Updated: 2014-07-14 11:47:52

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Structure of Government
The Structure and composition of Parliament:
The structure of government in the Commonwealth Caribbean is built on the Westminster
model of parliamentary democracy- tracing back to the 13th century. This model allows for a
Bi-cameral (two chambers) legislative body. In the Caricom countries, the two chambers
are:
(1) Upper house (Senate)
(2) Lower House (House of Representatives)
In Britain, the upper house is called the House of Lords and the lower house is called the
House of Commons. Trinidad, St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, Grenada are just a few of the
Commonwealth Caribbean countries that have a bi-cameral parliament.
If the Legislature has only one body, it is then described as a Unicameral Legislature.
Dominica, Guyana, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines all have
unicameral parliaments

(Parliament literally means place of speaking)

Structure of Bicameral Parliament

Composition of Parliament (Bicameralism)

As mentioned earlier, the Legislative body comprises the Senate (upper house) and the
House of Representatives (lower house). Entry into this body can either be through
nomination or election. Let us break it down!

Entry into the House of Representatives

This house comprises the elected members of the governing party and the opposition party or
parties. This therefore is an indication that entrance into this house is through the public
polls- general elections. People in each constituencies vote for the candidate who they
believe will best represent their interest and the candidate who gains majority of the votes
wins the election in that constituency and entry into the lower house (first past the post). It is
important to note that the majority of the members in the House of Representatives are apart
of the governing party (ruling party).
Entry into the Senate
All the members of the Senate are nominated. The following persons are given the task of
nominating the members of the Senate:
The Prime Minister - he or she nominates sitting members in the House of
Representatives. Senators nominated by the prime minister are called Government
Senators
The Head of State - He or she nominates Senators to represent interests such as religion,
education or business. Senators nominated by the head of state are called Independent
Senators because they do not represent any political interest or party.
Leader (s) of the Opposition party - he or she nominates sitting members in the House of
Representatives. Senators nominated by the leader(s) of Opposition Party (ies) are
called Opposition Senators.

Benefits of having a second chamber (The Senate)

The Senate provides a wider scope for checks and balances on the House of
Representative
Considers all bills passed in the House of Representative before they can become law (A
second examination of legislative proposals)
A wider scope of representation of interest in the society

Draw backs to having a second chamber (The Senate)

A second examination of legislative proposals will lengthen the overall legislative
process
The presence of non-elected members may be viewed as a challenge to the
representative government
The presence of a government majority favours decisions of the government.

The stages involved in the law making process

The Legislative branch is responsible for making the laws of the country. The processes
involve will be outlined below.
Can you imagine the intricacies involve in this process?

Structure and function of the Executive Arm of Government

The Executive arm of government is often referred to as the business house of the country.
This is where the Prime Minister and his ministers of government congregate to direct the
affairs of the country. The executive arm of government is popularly known as the Cabinet.
This type of government setting is evident in all the Commonwealth countries except

Guyana. In Guyana, the Executive President heads the Cabinet.

The chart below highlights some of the basic functions of the Cabinet

The Cabinet System

As mentioned earlier, the Cabinet is viewed as the business house of the country; hence, this
arm is responsible for directing the affairs of the country through initiating and implementing
policies that will see to its development. The Cabinet is the principal instrument of policy,
insofar as it exercises general direction and control over policy. To this end, Cabinet is
collectively responsible to Parliament for the general direction and control of policy. In the
same way, individual Ministers are individually responsible to Parliament for the general
direction and control of policy in their respective ministries.
These principles of Cabinet government are known as the Principle of Collective
Responsibility. Once a policy has been approved by Cabinet, it becomes the policy of the
entire Cabinet and every member is expected to defend it in public. This therefore means
that even if a Cabinet member disagrees with the policy, he or she is not at liberty to criticize
it in public after it has been approved by the Cabinet.

Rules that govern the Principle of Collective Responsibility:

I. The Confidence Rule- this implies that the ability of the Cabinet to exert direction and
control a function of the enjoyment of the confidence of a majority of elected members in the
Legislature
II. The Confidentiality Rule: This implies that all Cabinet documents and discussions must
remain confidential so as to preserve official secrecy in the making of Cabinet decisions
III. The Unanimity rule: This implies that the Cabinet can only speak with one voice so that
government policy will always be unambiguous

Individual Ministerial Responsibility

The Prime Minister is the chief executive officer; therefore, he is entrusted with the
responsibility of assigning responsibilities to his ministers. This area of responsibility given by
the Prime Minister is called the Minister's portfolio. Each minister is expected to carry out the
duties of his or her office that is called a Ministry or government department. For example, in
the Ministry of Agriculture, the minister who occupies this portfolio is expected to implement
policies relating to his/her office and be willing and ready to defend such a ministry in public
and in Parliament.
The responsibility of respective ministries can be over bearing, as such, the ministers may be
assisted by ministers without portfolio or junior ministers. In Guyana, it is the President who
gives the ministers areas of responsibility.
Rules that govern individual ministerial responsibility
I. The advice rule: This implies that Ministers are entitled to departmental advice, but their
decisions are their responsibility
II. The Culpability rule: This implies that ministers are responsible for errors of policy in their
ministries. Ministers cannot blame their public servants for any errors of policy, owing to the
fact that such decisions are exclusively limited to Ministers. A minister is accountable to
Parliament.
III. The Propriety rule: This implies that ministers must conduct themselves with propriety
and professionalism in the discharge of their duties.