YORK CASTLE HIGH SCHOOL
SOCIAL STUDIES
GRADE 10
STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT
The diagram above shows the struc-
ture of government in the Jamaica.
This government system is made up
three bodies or branches. The con-
stitution of many Caribbean coun-
tries has divided the powers and
authority of the government among
three bodies. This is to prevent the
abuse of political power by the gov-
ernment in carrying out its functions
and duties.
Each branch has the authority to
check on the other branches. For
example, the executive branch of
government cannot spend public
money without parliament’s ap-
proval. Also, the judiciary has the
authority to void acts of the Legisla-
ture that are aimed at violating the
rights and freedoms of citizens. it
should also be noted that each
branch of government does not
function autonomously at all times.
For example, members of the Legis-
lature (parliament) are most times
members of the Executive (Cabinet).
The written constitution which exists
in each Caribbean country deter-
mines the structure of its govern-
ment. The constitution describes
and dictates the relationship of the
different branches of the govern-
ment and provides detailed descrip-
tions of the functions of each
branch. Each branch has specific
functions and powers.
The functions of government
The functions of government span a
vast area of a citizen's life, both so-
cial and physical. First the chief func-
NAME:………………………………………………….
tion of any government is to ensure country.
the protection of life, liberty and  Raise revenue through direct
property, together with all other and indirect taxation.
functions that are necessary for the  Sanitation, including the regula-
proper functioning of society tion of trades for sanitary pur-
poses.
There are other functions which are  Provision of social services, such
undertaken to make possible the as education, welfare and
advancing of the general interests of health care.
society.  Care of the poor and incapable.
Other Functions: Parliament;
 A body of persons whose main
 The keeping of order and pro- function is to pass laws for the
viding for the protection of per- society or country.
sons and property from vio- Bicameral legislature:
lence and robbery.  A Parliament made up of two
 The fixing of the legal relations houses or chambers. Jamaica
in society. has a bi-cameral legislature
 Create employment opportuni- made up of the Upper House
ties. (the Senate), and the Lower
 The determination of contract House (the House of Represen-
rights between individuals. tatives).
 The definition and punishment Bill:
of crime.  A draft of a proposed act of
 The administration of justice in parliament - a proposal a new
civil causes. law.
 The determination of the politi- Act:
cal duties, privileges and rela-  A bill passed by parliament and
tions of citizens. proclaimed by the head of
 Dealings of the state with for- state.
eign powers: the preservation The Leader of the Opposition:
of the state from external dan-  This person is named by the
ger or encroachment and the Governor General and is usually
advancement of its interna- the leader of the members of
tional interests. the minority party in the House
 The regulation of trade and in- of Representatives.
dustry. Central Government:
 The regulation of labor and pub-  The political authority that gov-
lic utilities. erns an entire nation.
 The maintenance of thorough- Local Government:
fares  An administrative body for a
 Managing the finances of the small geographic area, such as a
city, town, county, or state.
 THE LEGISTURE/ of twenty-one (21) senators. Thir- passed by a majority of the mem-
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH/ARM teen (13) senators are appointed by bers present in the House. The quo-
the Governor General on the advice rum of the House is 16 in addition to
Functions of: of the Prime Minister. These sena- the person presiding. The House of
tors who are nominated by the Representatives has control over the
 To introduce new laws or stat- Prime Minister are called Govern- Government’s finances. Funds can-
ues ment Senators. The other eight (8) not be granted nor taxation levied
 To amend or alter existing laws are appointed on the advice of the without the approval of the House.
 To repeal those laws which are Leader of the Opposition and are
no longer applicable or relevant referred to as Opposition Senators. The Speaker
to society The senators that are nominated by
 To approve the annual Appro- the Head of State. are referred to as The Speaker of the House is the pre-
priation Bill for the state. Independent Senators because they siding officer in House of Represen-
 To discuss matters of urgent do not represent any political party. tative.
public The majority of the senators in the
 To ratify international treaties Jamaican Parliament are Govern-  The Speaker of the House is
ment Senators, thus giving the gov- formally elected by the mem-
The business of Parliament is con- ernment the majority votes in the bers of the House of Represen-
ducted when there is a sitting or Senate. tatives from among their
session of Parliament and the busi- number, at the first sitting after
ness is conducted according to an Only four (4) ministers with portfolio each general election or when
order paper. responsibilities can be members of there is a vacancy.
the senate. Apart from functioning  is usually from the ruling party
The legislative branch of govern- as a review chamber and consider-  has the responsibility to ensure
ment in many Commonwealth Car- ing bills passed by the lower house, that members keep within the
ibbean countries is based on the the senate can introduce any laws rules of the House ensures that
model in the United Kingdom (UK). except money bills. The Senate can- the rights of members of the
The legislative branch of govern- not delay money bills for more than Opposition are protected
ment is responsible for the creation one month or any other bill for  ensures that all members of the
and formulation of laws in the more than seven months. House get a fair hearing
county. Parliament Is the centre of  is formally elected by the mem-
the structure of the legislature. LOWER HOUSE OR HOUSE OF bers of
REPRESENTATIVES house
The legislature is the law-making
branch of government. Legislatures The Lower House or House of Repre- Leader of the House
in the Caribbean may be made up of sentatives Is an elected house. An
one or two houses (unicameral or individual that is a member of the  The Leader of the House of Rep-
bicameral). House of Representatives should be resentatives is responsible for
a Commonwealth citizen and should the direction of business in
COMPOSITION OF PARLIA- have been a resident in Jamaica for the House.
MENT a period of one year immediately  It is his job to see that time is
before his/her election or appoint- provided for debate on various
Jamaica has a bicameral legislature ment. matters in the House. In doing
made up of two houses: so, the Leader of the House
 the House of Representatives/ The Prime Minister and the Leader consults the Opposition and
Lower House of the Opposition are elected mem- seeks to reach agreement as
 and the Senate/The Upper bers of the House of Representa- to what business will be done in
House tives. the House each day.

N.B. In Guyana the Legislature The House of Representatives is the Leader of the Opposition
consists of one body. more powerful of the two Houses
and the government can only exist if  to scrutinize everything that the
The House of Representatives is It is supported by a majority vote in government does.
composed of 63 members elected to this House.
 to criticize governments meas-
five-year terms, while the Senate
ures and policies.
consists of 21 members: thirteen If the government has lost the confi-  to propose alternative meas-
(13) appointed by the Governor dence of the majority in the House ures and policies of their own.
General on the advice of the Prime on important and major policy mat-
 to draw attention to any ineffi-
Minister, and eight (8) by the leader ters, it is duty bound to resign.
of the opposition. ciency or maladministration in
the conduct of national affairs.
The House of Representatives may
N.B. In the commonwealth of consist of 63 members (the maxi-
Dominica, the house is com- THE POWER AND AUTHORETY OF
prised of elected and nomi- mum allowed by the Constitution), PARLIAMENT
nated members. elected by single-member constitu-
encies on the first-past-the-post The Parliament in many Caribbean
UPPER HOUSE OR SENATE basis. countries has LEGAL SUPREMACY.
Legal Supremacy means that that
The members of the Upper House or In practice, most Bills are initiated in Parliament has, based on the frame-
Senate are called senators. The Sen- the House of Representatives. No work of the Constitution, the
ate is a nominated house, made up Bill may become law unless it is highest authority.

 Parliament has the authority to
effect changes within the Con-
stitution.
 The House is responsible for
proposing and passing laws that
ensure order in society.
 Changes in the Constitution
must be passed in Parliament. A
two-thirds majority is required
to secure an amendment of the
Constitution. In order to safe-
guard the Constitution and sta-
bility in the country, the impor-
tant clauses of the Constitution
are entrenched. Therefore in
Jamaica and many other Carib-
bean countries, the Constitution
has many of its clauses firmly
entrenched making it difficult
for members of Parliament to
change them. This guarantees
that the rights and freedoms of
citizens are protected.

Government - How a Bill becomes a Law

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW clause is carefully examined, The procedure for money Bills dif-
IN THE COMMONWEALTH and amendments to the Bill may fers from that for ordinary Bills. The
CARIBBEAN then be moved and voted upon. A revenue and expenditure are settled
Bill may not be rejected during the in the following way. Government
How a Bill Becomes Law committee stage, as this power is Ministers put forward resolutions
reserved for the House. stating what money will be spent
A Bill is an act of Parliament in draft, and how. These estimates are de-
Report Stage bated by the House in committee.
No Bill can become law until it is When the various resolutions have
approved by the Houses of Parlia- After the committee stage, there is been agreed to, they are incorpo-
ment and receives the formal assent the “report stage”, when the rated into Bills, which are passed in
of the Governor-General. Speaker reports what has happened the usual way.
to the Bill in committee, whether
Bills may be introduced in either the there have been amendments or THE EXECUTIVE
House of Representatives or the not.
Senate,. This is the policy-making and admin-
Third Reading istrative arm or branch of govern-
No Bill involving finance can be first ment In Jamaica.
introduced in the Senate. No amendments of a substantial
nature may be made at the “third Functions of the executive:
“Public Bills”, designed to give effect reading”.
to Government policy, are intro-  To formulate policies to guide
duced by Ministers or other officers A Bill may be accepted or rejected growth and development of
of the Government. by means of a vote. country
 To manage the day-to-day ac-
“Private Members’ Bills” are intro- When a Bill is first passed by the tivities of society
duced by any other member of House of Representatives, it is sent  To discuss draft legislation
the House, whether of the govern- to the Senate, where it goes through  To make decisions about the
ing party or the Opposition. the same procedure as one which internal and external affairs of
originated in the “Lower House”. the country
After a Bill has been introduced in
the House, it must pass through  To decide on the budget
If the Senate disagrees with any as-
several stages, known as “readings”. pect of the Bill and makes an  To obtain loans from national,
regional and internal sources
amendment, the Bill is sent back
First Reading  To maintain proper security and
to the House of Representatives for
defense for citizen
consideration.
At “first reading” no debate on the  To approve recommendations
Bill is allowed. The “short title” of If the House disagrees with the Sen- from various ministries.
the Bill is read by the Clerk of the ate’s amendment, it informs the
House, the Bill is ordered to be People Functions
Senate, which is then asked to re-
printed and a day is appointed by consider the Bill. Prime Minister To decide on the
the member in charge of the Bill for Attorney General goals of the na-
“second reading”. When an agreement is reached and Ministers tion
the Bill has been passed through all
Second Reading Ministers To see that the
its stages in both Houses, it requires
Parliamentary decisions are
only the Royal Assent to make it law. Secretaries carried out
The Bill is debated fully at the
“second reading”. At the end of the The Royal Assent is given by Permanent Sec-
debate a vote is taken. retaries
the Governor-General. Civil Servants
Committee Stage Money Bills The Attorney To give govern-
General ment legal ad-
If the Bill passes its second reading, Money Bills, which may be initiated vice
it moves on to the “committee only in the House of Representa- The Director of To start, carry on
stage”. This committee comprises tives. Money Bills deal with any Public Persecu- or stop all crimi-
the whole House unless the House aspect of the Government’s finance, tion nal proceedings
refers the Bill to a “Select Commit- such as taxation, loans and audit of
tee”. At this point, the Bill is consid- The Ombudsman To investigate
accounts.
ered in very close detail. Every ( The Public complaint of
Defender) unfair adminis-
trative action
This comprises the Prime Minister
and his/her selected government
ministers. These persons form the
Cabinet.
The ministers may be chosen from
the House of Representatives or
from the Senate. The number from
the Senate is at present limited to
four.
The executive council, since it is se-
lected from Parliament, is collec-
tively responsible to Parliament. The  The powers of the prime minis-
ministers must give explanations
about their ministry’s policies when
they are asked to do so by any mem-
ber of parliament.
CABINET
This body is made up of the Prime
Minister and the ministers of gov-
ernment. The Prime Minister as the
head of Cabinet chooses all the min-
isters, who are subsequently ap-
pointed by the Governor General.
In Guyana, the Executive President
is the head of the Cabinet.
POLICY: A plan or course of ac-
tion of a government, political
party, or business, intended to Ministers
influence and determine deci-
sions, actions, and other matters. Government ministers are given
areas of responsibility by the Prime
FUNCTIONS Of THE CABINET Minister. This area of responsibil-
ity is called the minister’s portfolio.
 Makes policies and programmes The minister has individual responsi-
for the country. bility for his or her office, which is
 Initiates proposals for taxation. called a ministry or government de-
 Sees that the policies and pro- partment. The minister must pro-
grammes are carried out. mote and defend the ministry's poli-
cies and performance in cabi-
THE ROLE OF THE PRIME MINISTER net and in parliament.
ter are defined in the constitu- The minister may be assisted by a
tion and they extend to each minister without portfolio or junior
branch of government. minister (minister of state).
Some functions of the prime minister The civil service
 Decides on the size and compo- Each government ministry has a
sition of the cabinet staff of civil servants who are re-
 fixes the date for elections sponsible for implementing the
 Heads the cabinet and chairs its government’s policies that relate to
meetings each particular ministry and who
may be asked to advice the minister.
 Advises the governor-general or
Each ministry is headed by a senior
president when to dissolve
civil servant, known as a permanent
parliament
 Heads the government secretary.
 Assigns and re-assigns portfolios
to cabinet ministers

Answer the following questions.

1. Why is it necessary to divide the government into three branches?

2. In what way can the Judiciary protect the rights and freedom of the citizens?
3. What determines the structure of the government..
4. What is the main function of a government?
5. What is it mean that the government is responsible for maintenance of thoroughfare?
6. The main function of the legislature is to
7. What is an order paper?
8. From which country did Jamaica models its legislative branch?
9. What does it mean when a country has a bi-cameral legislature.
10. Name one country with a b-cameral legislature.
11. How many members makes up the House of Representatives?
12. How many members make up senate?
13. Explain how a person become a senator?
14. Explain how a candidate becomes a member of Parliament?
15. How many senators can be nominated by the Prime Minister?
16. How many senators cab be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition?
17. What is the maximum number of senators that can become Ministers with Portfolio.
18. True/false The Prime Minister is elected by the electorate.
19. True/false The leader of the winning party even if he/she loses his/her seat is usually appointed as the prime
Minister.
20. Explain how the governing party cease to be the government.
21. Which branch of government has control of government spending?
22. Who is the Speaker of House.
23. What is his/her main duty
24. Who is the Leader of the House
25. Who is the leader of the opposition.
26. Explain the term legal supremacy of Parliament.