A Democratic Barbados
Government
The obvious questions visitors to the island
ask about the government of Barbados are..
"What is the type of government in Barbados?....
"Is it a democractic government?.... communist?
"Or is it even possibly totalitarian?"
These
questions usually stems from worry.... worry of whether or not you are
about to vacation on an island with an unstable government, perhaps
even a country of turmoil!
Well guess what,
Barbados
is a very stable country with a stable democratic
government!
We believe in a country of free speech without
restriction on the way of life.
How is the government of
Barbados structured?
The
Barbados government is structure like many other Commonwealth
countries. This is because Barbados is a former
British
Colony that established its independence in November of 1966.
At
the top of the governmental structure is the
The
Head of State of the island, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,
commonly referred to as "
The
Queen of Barbados".
However
the Queen does not use her executive power over the island.
She
instead appoints a Governor General to represent her. The
current
Governor
General of Barbados is Sir Clifford Husbands
who has
been the island's Governor General since 1996.
The
Governor General of Barbados is then allowed to appoint a Prime
Minister to take the position of leader of the island's government.
This is however done through a general election, where by
political parties try to gain the trust of the public. This
is in
an attempt order win the majority of seats in the
House Of Assembly.
How is the Barbados
Parliament structured?
The
parliament of Barbados is a bicameral legislature with an
Upper
House and a Lower House. These are known as
The Senate of
Barbados and
The
House of Assembly respectively.
The Senate of
Barbados is made up of 21 members that are appointed by The Governor
General while the The House Of Assembly is made up of 30 members of the
elected party.
Every
5 years a general election is held allowing the public to vote for the
political party they wish to place into power.
These elections allow members of the public who are 18
years of age or older regardless of sex the chance to vote for a
political party.
The
political party that wins the most seats in the House of Assembly is
put into office with the leader of the party taking up position as the
new
Prime Minister of
Barbados.
There are two major Barbados political
parties that battle it out for office. These two parties are
called
The Democratic
Labour Party (DLP) and
The
Barbados Labour Party
(BLP).
The most recent general election was held on January 15th
of 2008 with the Democratic Labour Party winning 20 of the 30 seats.
This victory made
David
John Howard Thompson our newest and current Prime Minister.
How about the Barbados
judicial system?
The
legal system in Barbados is based on the same legal system used by the
British. Again this stems from Barbados being a former
British colony.
The judicial system in Barbados is therefore made up of a
Supreme Court and a
Magistrates Court. The Supreme
Court is further divided into The High Court and The Court
of Appeal
.
Civil, criminal and family cases in Barbados are heard before The High
Court while
criminal and civil appeals from decisions of the High Court
are heard by The Court of Appeal
Simpler
cases, which generally do not require a jury, are usually dealt with by
The Magistrates Court.
What is The Barbados Government
Information Service?
The Barbados Government Information Service was established in 1968 and
its main goal is to ensure that the people of the island remain
informed
about the activities of the government in Barbados.
This government information service does this through the use of
various means of news media and is essential to maintaining the
govermental education of the Barbadian public.
If you want to find out more information about The Barbados Government
Inforamtion Service you can visit their official website
here.
Quick
Facts About The Goverment of Barbados
•
Type of Government in Barbados: Democratic
•
Type of Parliament in Barbados: Bicameral
legislature
• Head of
State: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister of Barbados: David
Thompson
• Governor
General of Barbados:
Sir Clifford Husbands
• Barbados
Political Parties: The Barbados Labour Party
(BLP) and The Democratic Labour Party (DLP)
• Current
Political Party in Power: The
Democratic Labour Party
• Official
Barbados Government Website: www.barbados.gov.bb
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