Guatemala’s Politics
The Republic of Guatemala or Republica de Guatemala is located in Central America. It is the land that borders the North Pacific Ocean and is placed in between El Salvador and Mexico. Guatemala has a long history and a fairly new independence which makes it an interesting country to study. In reference to American states, it is slightly smaller than Pennsylvania. In this paper I will be discussing Guatemala political structure and how the government attempts to provide conditions in which citizens can obtain their upmost potential.
The country known today as Guatemala has been inhabited by people since 1600 BCE. The Olmec’s and Zapotec’s were some of the first civilizations to settle in the area. They had advanced writing …show more content…
A constitution clearly lays out the powers and functions of the different sectors within the government. According to the Constitution Project, Guatemala’s constitution has 7 titles and 281 articles that organizes government protocol for acts such as vetoing a bill or how presidential elections are ran. Similar to America, Guatemala has a presidential system, meaning the head of the government is the head of the state. This president is also in control of the executive branch. Guatemala uses a three branch system which includes the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The legislative branch is a unicameral system meaning it has a single legislative chamber that discusses and votes on bills. This branch consists of the National Congress; a one house legislature with 156 members. Members are elected in September and serve four year terms. The judicial branch is led by the supreme court of justice; there are 13 judges organized into three different chambers. The Constitution Court falls under the judicial branch and consists of 5 judges. Proposed judges are organized by the Postulation Committee and then are elected by Congress. They are allowed for renewable five year terms. The final branch is the executive branch. This branch is led by Guatemala’s current president, Jimmy Morales. The president and vice president are elected by a majority popularity vote. Comparable the United States, they serve four year terms but a difference is that the president cannot serve two consecutive terms. Guatemala is a unitary system; this means that power is centralized at the national level. All branches that fall below the national power are used as an extension of the central government. According to the Good Society text book lower levels of the state do not have the power to received taxes or create new policies. This is different than a federal system which is what the United States has
The Republic of Guatemala or Republica de Guatemala is located in Central America. It is the land that borders the North Pacific Ocean and is placed in between El Salvador and Mexico. Guatemala has a long history and a fairly new independence which makes it an interesting country to study. In reference to American states, it is slightly smaller than Pennsylvania. In this paper I will be discussing Guatemala political structure and how the government attempts to provide conditions in which citizens can obtain their upmost potential.
The country known today as Guatemala has been inhabited by people since 1600 BCE. The Olmec’s and Zapotec’s were some of the first civilizations to settle in the area. They had advanced writing …show more content…
A constitution clearly lays out the powers and functions of the different sectors within the government. According to the Constitution Project, Guatemala’s constitution has 7 titles and 281 articles that organizes government protocol for acts such as vetoing a bill or how presidential elections are ran. Similar to America, Guatemala has a presidential system, meaning the head of the government is the head of the state. This president is also in control of the executive branch. Guatemala uses a three branch system which includes the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The legislative branch is a unicameral system meaning it has a single legislative chamber that discusses and votes on bills. This branch consists of the National Congress; a one house legislature with 156 members. Members are elected in September and serve four year terms. The judicial branch is led by the supreme court of justice; there are 13 judges organized into three different chambers. The Constitution Court falls under the judicial branch and consists of 5 judges. Proposed judges are organized by the Postulation Committee and then are elected by Congress. They are allowed for renewable five year terms. The final branch is the executive branch. This branch is led by Guatemala’s current president, Jimmy Morales. The president and vice president are elected by a majority popularity vote. Comparable the United States, they serve four year terms but a difference is that the president cannot serve two consecutive terms. Guatemala is a unitary system; this means that power is centralized at the national level. All branches that fall below the national power are used as an extension of the central government. According to the Good Society text book lower levels of the state do not have the power to received taxes or create new policies. This is different than a federal system which is what the United States has