Elections in Dominica have been taking place since 1832.

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

elects on national level a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

. The

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

has 32 members, 21 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

, 9 appointed senators,The elected Representatives decide whether senators are to be elected or appointed. If appointed, five are chosen by the president with the advice of the prime minister and four with the advice of the opposition leader. If elected, it is by vote of the Representatives. the Speaker and 1 ''ex officio'' member. a

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

- the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

- is elected by the House of Assembly. Dominica has a

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

, which means that there are two dominant

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. Dominica was once a three-party system until the

Dominica Labour Party The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica. History Founded in 1955 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Emmanuel Christopher Loblack, the Dominica Labour Party is the oldest political party in Dominica. N ...

and the greatly diminished

Dominica Freedom Party The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) is a conservative political party in Dominica. It shares much of the same socially and economically conservative principles as the Conservative Party in the UK. The party has been led by Bernard Hurtault since 2 ...

formed a coalition government. The DFP has failed to acquire any seats for two elections straight, leaving the United Workers' Party as the only opposition to the DLP.

Latest elections

Notes

References

* Matthias Catón: "Dominica" in: ''Elections in the Americas. A Data Handbook'', vol. 1, ed. by Dieter Nohlen. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005: pp. 223–237

External links

Adam Carr's Election Archive

Vote Commonwealth of Dominica elections
KnowledgeWalk online
Election Profile - Commonwealth of Dominica
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) {{Dominica-stub

Latest elections

See also

Notes

References

External links