The structure of our state and the Government of our country:

• Source – the Office of the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (https://otp.tt/trinidad-and-tobago/state-structure)
 The structure of our state and the Government of our country:

• The Government in most Caribbean countries is divided into 3

branches and each branch is given certain powers to enable it to
carry out its own particular function under a principle known as the
separation of powers . Thus this principle refers to the allocation
of powers to different branches of government.
• The purpose of the separation of powers is to prevent abuse of
power by the government, since each branch of government is
theoretically independent of the others, and each acts as a check
on the other.
The different branches are:
• The Legislature
• The Executive/Cabinet
• The Judiciary.
 The structure of our state and the Government of our country:

The Legislative Branch

• This comprises the Senate/Upper House and the House
of Representatives/Lower House.
The Senate/Upper House - The Prime Minister
nominates 16 members of his/her own party to the Senate,
the Opposition leader nominates 6 members from their
party; the President of our country appoints 9 members to
the Senate.
The House of Representatives/Lower House –
this comprises elected members/Members of Parliament
(M.P.s) of the Cabinet, government and opposition.
 Functions of the Senate and House of
The Legislature Representatives
• This comprises the Senate/Upper House and the House of Representatives/Lower
House.
Functions of the Senate/Upper House :
• Makes laws
• Debates budget
• Discusses national issues
• Investigates improper conduct of any M..P.
• Debates no-confidence rulings.
Functions the House of Representatives/Lower House:
• Passes legislation
• Repeals legislation
• Amends the constitution
• Approves the national budget
• Authorizes expenditure of public funds
• Ratifies international treaties.
 The structure of our state and the Government of our country:

The Executive/Cabinet Branch

• This comprises the Prime Minister and other Ministers.
In Guyana, it comprises the President and Ministers of
the various Ministries.
 The structure of our state and the Government of our country:

The Judicial Branch

• This comprises the Legal Officials (Chief Justice, Attorney
General, Solicitor General, the Director of Public
Prosecution);
• The Industrial Court;
• The Magistrate’s court;
• The Supreme Court (which is made up of the Court of
Appeal (Privy Council)and the High Court)
 Functions of the Judiciary
The Judiciary
Functions :
• To administer and interpret the law
• Can review any law passed by legislation, or
any action by the Executive
• Maintains the law.
 Functions of government

• The Opposition
• The party winning the second largest number of seats in the election becomes the party in opposition. The
President appoints the Leader of the Opposition, this is usually the leader of that party.
• The role of the opposition is to scrutinize government’s policies and to ensure that the government accounts for
the decisions that they make.
• Activity: go to http://www.ttparliament.org/members.php , go to ‘members’ and research the current members of
the House of Representatives and members of the Senate.
• Citizen’s role
• It is our responsibility to ensure that those who we have elected to office do their jobs correctly. Some ways that
ordinary citizens can be involved in the running of the country are:
• • Participating in public consultations by commenting and giving their views via the appropriate medium.
• • Attending meetings hosted by representatives elected by the people.
• • Visiting the Ministry’s’ websites to obtain necessary information, to contact their representative, etc.
• Free and Fair elections
• Universal Adult Suffrage refers to the right of all competent adult citizens (over 18) in a country to vote, regardless
of race, beliefs, etc. All citizens did not always have the right to vote in our country. In the 1920’s, there was a
‘limited franchise system’, where men had to be over 21 years and women had to be over 30 years old, they had
to be wealthy or own property, etc., in order to be able to vote. Citizens were only allowed to vote in 1946 and
when our country obtained independence in 1962, the age at which someone would qualify to vote was reduced
to 18 years.