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NGSA Social Studies study materials
NGSA Social Studies study resources

NGSA Social Studies: Guyana: Government, Constitution and Citizenship

NGSA Social Studies · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Guyana: Government, Constitution and Citizenship

The Constitution is the supreme law of Guyana, and this domain tests how power is organised under it, how laws are made, what rights citizens hold, and how someone becomes a citizen. The present constitution is the republican constitution of 1980, amended in 1996 and 2001.

The three branches

  • Executive: the President is Head of State and Head of Government, working with the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The President is the leader of the party or coalition holding a majority in the National Assembly and serves a five-year term.
  • Legislature: the National Assembly has 65 elected members - 25 from geographical constituencies and 40 from a national top-up list - under proportional representation, plus non-elected members and a Speaker.
  • Judiciary: the High Court and Court of Appeal; since 2005 the Caribbean Court of Justice is the final court of appeal. Judges are expected to be independent of the other branches.

Rights and citizenship

  • The Bill of Rights protects life, personal liberty, freedom of expression, religion, assembly and movement, and protects against discrimination.
  • Citizenship may be held by birth, descent, registration or naturalisation. Citizens vote at 18 in secret ballots run by GECOM.
  • Local government runs through ten Regional Democratic Councils, municipalities such as Georgetown, Linden and New Amsterdam, and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils.

Worked example

A bill has been passed by the National Assembly. Explain what must happen before it becomes law. Reasoning: after debate and a majority vote in the Assembly, the bill goes to the President for assent, and only then is it law. A useful extra point: some changes, such as entrenched constitutional provisions, need a two-thirds majority, not a simple one.

Traps that cost marks

  • Saying the President is elected directly by the people; voters elect parliamentarians, and the majority party's leader becomes President.
  • Confusing Cabinet (ministers) with the National Assembly (elected legislators).
  • Assuming the constitution can be changed by a simple majority.
  • Forgetting that the CCJ, not the Privy Council, is now Guyana's final court.