+ PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY, + ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP: C4: TRAINING DEMOCRATIC

PARTICIPATION

POLITICAL
SYSTEMS
Pos mobility work - 3

Mariana Pereira

Portugal – Camilo Castelo Branco

Índex
Political systems of each country

Lithuania’s political system

Portugal’s political system

Spain’s political system

LITHUANIAN’S FORM
OF GOVERNEMENT
Lithuania's form of government is a unitary semi-
presidential representative democratic republic.

The president is the head of state, and the prime minister

is the head of government and of a multi-party system.

The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos

Respublikos Konstitucija) was approved in a referendum
on October 25, 1992.

Constitution of the Republic of

Lithuania
 THE
GOVERNMENT Government in Lithuania is made up of three branches:
executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is
separate and is set up to do checks and balances on each
other branch.

The most important figure in the government are the President and
the Prime Minister, that belong to the executive branch.

President – Gitanas Nausėda Prime minister – Ingrida Šimonytė

EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The executive branch of the Lithuanian government consists of a President, a Prime Minister, and the
President's Council of Ministers. It is in charge of running the government.

1 2 3
The President The Prime Minister The Council of Ministers
THE PRESIDENT

The President of Lithuania is the head of state of the country, and the
commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He is elected directly for a
five-year term, and can serve maximum of two terms consecutively.

The President, with the approval of the Seimas, is first responsible of

appointing the Prime Minister. Upon the Prime Minister's nomination,
the President also appoints, under the recommendation of the Prime
Minister, the Council of Ministers (13 ministries), as well as a number of
other top civil servants and the judges for all courts.

President – Gitanas Nausėda

 THE PRIME MINISTER
The Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of government of the
country, appointed by the President and approved by the Seimas.

The Prime Minister, within 15 days of being appointed, is responsible

for choosing Ministers for the President to approve to each of the 13
Ministries.

THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

The Council of Ministers consists of 13 Ministers chosen by the Prime
Minister and appointed by the President.

Each Minister is responsible for his or her own Ministry of the

Lithuanian government and must give reports on his or her Ministry
when directed to.

Prime minister – Ingrida Šimonytė

 LEGISLATIVE
BRANCH
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania constitutes the
legislative branch of government in Lithuania.

The Seimas has 141 members that are elected for a 4-year

term and is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The
Seimas enacts laws and amendments to the Constitution,
passes the budget, confirms the Prime Minister and the
Government and controls their activities. Following the Composition of the Seimas
elections in 2020, the Homeland Union – Lithuanian
Christian Democrats is the largest party in the Seimas, Government (75) Homeland Union (51) Liberal Movement (13) Freedom Party (11)
forming a ruling coalition with the Liberal Movement the
Opposition (66) Farmers and Greens Union (32) Social Democrats (13) Labour Party (9) Electoral
Freedom Party.
Action of Poles (3) Social Democratic Labour Party (3) Freedom and Justice (1) Lithuania Green

Party (1) Independent (4)

JUDICIAL BRANCH
The judges of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania
(Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas) constitute the judicial branch
of government.

The judges, for a single nine-year term, are appointed by the Seimas from
the candidates presented by the President (three judges), Chairman of
Seimas (three judges) and the chairman of the Supreme Court (three judges).

Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania

PORTUGAL’S FORM
OF GOVERNMENT
Portugal is a Constitutional unitary semi-presidential
republic, since 1974, the year of the carnation
revolution (25th April).

The Portuguese constitution was then approved in

1976. Portugal is divided into 4 sovereignty bodies:
the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the
Republic, the Government and the Courts.

Constitution of the Republic of Portugal

THE PRESIDENT

The president of the Republic is elected by universal suffrage to serve a

five-year term. He is the Head of State and the Supreme Commander of
the Armed Forces.

It is the president who appoints the prime minister and the members of the
government, and also has the power to dismiss the government and its
members, as well as dismiss the prime minister. He is also responsible for
dissolving the Assembly of the Republic, and has the power to promulgate
and veto the laws passed in this body, and the decree-laws approved in the
Council of Ministers.

Portugal's current president is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who was re-

elected president in the 2021 elections after serving the term since 2016
for the first time.

President – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa

 THE ASSEMBLY OF
REPUBLIC
The Assembly of the Republic is the legislative body of the Portuguese
State. The Assembly of the Republic meets at São Bento Palace, in
Lisbon.

The Parliament supports the government, and must approve its program
and the state budget, or overthrow it through a censure motion. Since it is
the legislative body, it is here that bills are discussed.

Composition of the Assembly of the Republic

Governement: PS (120)

Opposition: PPD/PSD (77) CH (12) IL (8) PCP (6) B.E. (5) PAN (1) L (1)

São Bento Palace, Lisbon

 THE GOVERNMENT

The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who is usually the

leader of the party that received the most votes in the legislative
elections, and is invited by the President of the Republic to form the
government.

It is the Prime Minister who chooses the other ministers and the
secretaries of state. The government can present bills to the assembly of
the republic, and can approve decree-laws in the Council of Ministers.

Currently, the prime minister of Portugal is António Costa, who has held
this position since 2015, and belongs to PS, which is the most voted
party.

Prime minister – António Costa

THE COURTS
The Courts, on behalf of the people, command justice, with the objective of
defending the rights and interests of the citizens, in order to prevent the
There are 4 types of courts:
violation of democratic legality and to diminish conflicts of interest between -Supreme Court of Justice: ensures the defence of citizens' legally
various entities. protected rights and interests, represses the violation of democratic legality,
and settles conflicts of public and private interests.

-Constitutional Court: inspection of the conformity of the norms of laws

and decree-laws with the Constitution.

-Supreme Administrative Court: adjudication of disputes arising from

administrative and tax legal relations.

-Court of Auditors: gives an opinion on the legality, economy, efficiency

and effectiveness of the management, as well as on the reliability of the
internal control systems.
 

Supreme Court of Justice

SPAIN’S FORM OF
GOVERNMENT
The form of government in Spain is a social
representative democratic constitutional monarchy.

In Spain, the monarch is the head of state, while the prime

minister, called the president of the government, is the head
of government. The Spanish Constitution (Constitución
Española) was enacted in 1978. Spain's political system is
divided into 3 powers: legislative, executive and judicial.

Spanish Constitution
 THE MONARCH/KING Currently, the Spanish king has been Philip VI since 2014, who ascended
the throne after the abdication of his father.
The king is proclaimed by the Cortes Generales - the Parliament - and must swear
to faithfully perform his duties, obey the Constitution and all laws and see that
they are obeyed, and respect the rights of the citizens as well as the rights of the
autonomous communities.

The king is the commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces, but he has only
symbolic, not actual, authority over the Spanish military. In practical terms, his
functions are mostly ceremonial, and the constitutional provisions are worded in
such a way as to make clear the strictly neutral and apolitical nature of his role.
However, it is he who sanctions and promulgates laws, who appoints or dismisses
the Prime Minister and who convenes or dissolves parliament. Furthermore, it is
the king who decides to enter into international commitments by means of treaties,
and declares war or makes peace, with the authorization of the Cortes Generales.

Monarch – Felipe VI
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH -
THE GOVERNMENT
The executive power is exercised by the Government, of which the
Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, and the Council of
Ministers are part.

The Prime Minister is elected in the Congress of Deputies, and after

being elected, he proposes the vice-prime ministers and the other
ministers, which are then appointed by the King. Once formed, the
Government meets as the "Council of Ministers", at the Palace of
Moncloa in Madrid.

The Prime Minister is the head of government. The government

conducts domestic and foreign policy, civil and military administration,
and the defence of the nation all in the name of the king on behalf of the
people. Additionally, the government exercises executive authority and
statutory regulations.
Prime minister – Pedro Sánchez
 LEGISLATIVE
BRANCH
The legislative power is integrated in the parliament - Cortes Generales -
which is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and
the Senate. The General Courts exercise the legislative power of the State,
approving the budget and controlling the actions of the government.
The Congress of Deputies is elected by universal, free, equal, direct and secret
suffrage, to four-year terms or until the dissolution of the Cortes Generales.
The Congress of Deputies can initiate legislation, and they also have the
power to ratify or reject the decree laws adopted by the executive. They also
elect, via a vote of investiture, the prime minister, before being formally
sworn to office by the King. The Congress of Deputies may adopt a motion of
censure whereby it can vote out the prime minister by absolute majority.

Four senators are elected for each province, with the exception of the insular
provinces, in which the number of senator varies. Senators serve for four-year
terms or until the dissolution of the Cortes Generales. The Senate has less
power than the Congress of Deputies: it can veto legislation, but its veto can
be overturned by an absolute majority of the Congress of Deputies. Its only
exclusive power concerns the autonomous communities. By an overall
majority, the Senate is the institution that authorizes the Government to adopt
measures to enforce an autonomous community's compliance with its
constitutional duties when it has failed to do so.

Cortes Generales - parliament

JUDICIAL BRANCH
The judicial power administers justice on behalf of the king, through judges
and magistrates. The Judiciary is composed of different courts depending on
The highest ranking court of the Spanish judiciary is the Supreme Court
the jurisdictional order and what is to be judged. with jurisdiction in all Spain. The Supreme Court is headed by a president,
nominated by the King, proposed by the General Council of the Judiciary. 

The Constitutional Court is competent to hear appeals against the alleged

unconstitutionality of laws and regulations having the force of law, as well
as individual appeals for protection against violation of the rights and
liberties granted by the constitution. It consists of 12 members, appointed by
the King, 4 of which are proposed by the Congress of Deputies, 4 of which
are proposed by the Senate, 2 proposed by the executive and 2 proposed by
the General Council of the Judiciary. 

Supreme Court
 CONCLUSION
Through the analysis of each country’s political systems, it is possible to conclude that there are a lot of
differences in the way that each country is organized. However, all of them have the same purpose,
protect and defend the rights and interests of the citizens, to prevent the violation of their rights and to
diminish conflicts of interest.

Pos mobility work 3: Political systems

+ PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY, + ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP: C4: TRAINING DEMOCRATIC
PARTICIPATION
Mariana Pereira

Portugal – Camilo Castelo Branco