Image: https://unsplash.com/@kenrick - A historical village in Trinidad dating back to French colonial rule
Edu Level: CSEC
Types of Government
There are/have been 4 types of government systems used throughout the commonwealth countries of the Caribbean. The CSEC syllabus requires you to know the 3 systems after old representative.
Old Representative System
Please note this system is not tested however it is important to know before understanding the following systems. The old representative system was governed by a governor appointed by the British Monarch and a legislative assembly. This system often favoured the interests of the upper class such as merchants and wealthy landowners. On the other hand it oppressed the majority of the local population comprised of enslaved or indentured servants and they had no voting rights.
Crown Colony
This system was led by a governor which represented the Monarch and a council that was chosen by the governor to advise him. They had no powers to pass law and the crown would override any law that they did not consider favorable to themselves. In the Caribbean, islands such as Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands still remain under the rule of the British.
Constitutional monarchy
In the 1950s there were rising independence movements across the Caribbean territories and this in part led to the establishing of the constitutional monarchy which was a type of government that was granted after Independence. The constitutional monarchy allowed the country to become an independent state but the Monarch would still be the head of state. therefore it would have a parliament with representatives elected by the people and a government led by the prime minister. The parliament would be responsible for making laws. Today there are eight constitutional monarchy is remaining in the Caribbean, they are Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Republic
In a republic system of government a state becomes fully sovereign to make its decisions and affairs. The Monarch represented by the governor general is replaced by a President which becomes the chief of the armed forces and the head of state of the country. This is established in a new constitution. Currently there are four Caribbean countries which are republics they are Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana Dominica and Barbados, Jamaica is currently transitioning from a crown constitutional Monarch to a republic by the year 2025 .
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