Political+Systems

__//**What type of Political Systems exist in Belize? **//__ The system in Belize is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. So Belize governemnt is basically a mixed system. A mixed system is basically the combonation of democracy, and toalitaranism, without the demanding effects of each. Within Belize there is a bicameral legislative, which means they have 2 legislative branches. Moving on to the executive branch, Belize's chief of state is Queen Elizabeth II, and she is represented by a governor general. Also in the excutive is the head of governement, which is the prime minister, Deputy Prime Minister. Then theres' a small group called the cabinet, and they are appointed by the governor general. In the executive branches note that the duties are not passed by elections, usually heredity rules the government. The 3rd branch is the judicial branch. The judicial branch enforces the laws made by the legislative branch. The highest court in he land is the supreme court, and they are appointed by chief justice, and governor general. In the end Belize is a governement that splits power evenly between themselves. [] __//**What are political conditions like? What are the major concerns of the Government in Belize? **//__ The United Democratic Party (UDP) beat the People's United Party (PUP) in the election on February 7, 2008. There are many concerns of the government in Belize that they are doing there best to fix. These concerns are also very important to fix because these effect not only the government, but also the people of Belize. One major concern of the government would be high unemployment. High unemployment means that the country is not making enough money and that causes poverty. This is one of the many thigns that they need to fix as soon as possible.Some other concerns are growing involvement in the South American drug trade, high crime rates, and increasing incidents of HIV/AIDS. As of February 2010, Belize’s total national debt (both external and domestic) was U.S. $1.173 billion (public external debt was U.S. $1.0095 billion and domestic debt was $163.8 million), this amount is basically equally to 72.1% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

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__//**Who are the current political leaders? **//__ The head of the government, or the head of state comes in the form of Queen Elizabeth II. She is the main political power in Belize. Due to the fact that the Queen must rule in other nations, she is represented by a Belizean, Governor General Colville N. Young. From there, the hierarchy continues to the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dean Barrow. Gaspar Vega is currently the Deputy Prime Minister and is in charge of Natural Resources and the Environment. Next on the totem comes the Minister of Foreign Trade and Affairs, Wilfred Elrington. In charge of all issues pertaining to Economic Development, Erwin Contreras also heads Industry, Commerce, and Consumer Protection. Carlos Perdomo is the Minister of Defense runs the military aspect of the country. Gabriel Martinez comes as the Minister of Labor and keeps watch on industries pertaining to Local Government and Rural Development. There are also people in charge of making visits to the United States, The OAS, and the United Nations. The Ambassador to the United States is Nestor Mendez who in fact is also the Ambassador to the OAS. Janine Coye-Felson is the Ambassador to the United Nations .

  