Politics of El Salvador takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the

President of El Salvador The president of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de El Salvador), officially known as the President of the Republic of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de la República de El Salvador), is the head of state and head of government of El Salvador. He i ...

is both

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 ...

and

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

, and of an

executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems b ...

is exercised by the government.

Legislative power A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...

is vested in both the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

and the Legislative Assembly. The

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

is independent of the executive and the legislature. an improvement from its previous score that put it at the top of the "hybrid regime" category.

Political culture

El Salvador has a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

. Three political parties

Nuevas Ideas Nuevas Ideas (Spanish for ''New Ideas'') is a Salvadoran populist political party founded on 25 October 2017 and based in San Salvador. It was founded by the current President of the Republic of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. It was legalized by t ...

(New Ideas), the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) is a left-wing political party in El Salvador. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on 10 October 1980, from five leftist gu ...

(FMLN) have tended to dominate elections since the end of the civil war.

ARENA An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

candidates won four consecutive presidential elections until the election of Mauricio Funes of the FMLN in March 2009. In 2014, he was followed by another FMLN president,

Salvador Sánchez Cerén Salvador Sánchez Cerén (; born 18 June 1944) is a Salvadoran politician who served as the 42nd President of El Salvador between 1 June 2014 and 1 June 2019. He took office on 1 June 2014, after winning the 2014 presidential election as the c ...

. The 2019 election was won by

Nayib Bukele Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez (; born 24 July 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who is the 43rd president of El Salvador, serving since 1 June 2019. He is the first president since José Napoleón Duarte (1984–1989) not to have ...

as the candidate of the center-right

Grand Alliance for National Unity The Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA; es, Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional) is a political party in El Salvador. The party established itself on 16 January 2010 and was recognized by the Supreme Electoral Court of El Salvador on 19 Ma ...

(GANA) party. In February 2021, El Salvador's

legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was an important breakthrough. The new party, founded by President Bukele,

, won around two-thirds of votes with its allies (GANA-New Ideas). His party won supermajority 56 seats in the 84-seat parliament. Bukele became the country’s most powerful leader in three decades. Geographically, the departments of the Central region, especially the capital and the coastal regions, known as ''departamentos rojos'', or red departments, are mostly

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

while the ''departamentos azules'', or blue departments, in the east, western and highland regions are generally

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Executive branch

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 ...

, 1 June 2019 El Salvador elects its

, the

, directly through a fixed-date general election whose winner is decided by absolute majority. If an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

is not achieved by any candidate in the first round of a presidential election, then a run-off pool election is conducted 30 days later between the two candidates who obtained the most votes in the first round. The president serves a five-year term. He is barred from immediately succeeding himself, though previously elected presidents may run for a second, non-consecutive term. In September 2021, El Salvador's Supreme Court decided to allow President

to run for a second term in 2024, despite the constitution prohibits the president to serve two consecutive terms in office. The decision was organized by judges appointed to the court by President Bukele.

Legislative branch

Salvadorans also elect a single-chamber, unicameral national

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

Legislative Assembly of El Salvador The Legislative Assembly ( es, Asamblea Legislativa) is the legislative branch of the government of El Salvador. Structure The Salvadoran legislature is a unicameral body. It is made up of 84 deputies, all of whom are elected by direct popu ...

, of 84 members (deputies) elected by closed-list proportional representation for three-year terms, with the possibility of immediate re-election. 20 of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly are elected on the basis of a single national constituency. The remaining 64 are elected in 14 multi-member

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 ...

(corresponding to El Salvador's 14 departments). They range from 3-16 seats each according to departmental population size.

Judicial branch

The Judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court, is composed of 15 judges, one of them being elected as President of the Judiciary.

Foreign relations

El Salvador is a member of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and several of its specialized agencies, the Organization of American States (OAS), the

Central American Common Market The Central American Integration System ( es, Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA) has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1 February 1993. On 13 December 1991, the ODECA countries (Spa ...

(CACM), the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), and the

Central American Integration System The Central American Integration System ( es, Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA) has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1 February 1993. On 13 December 1991, the ODECA countries (Spa ...

(SICA). It actively participates in the Central American Security Commission (CASC), which seeks to promote regional arms control. El Salvador also is a member of the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

and is pursuing regional free trade agreements. An active participant in the Summit of the Americas process, El Salvador chairs a

working group A working group, or working party, is a group of experts working together to achieve specified goals. The groups are domain-specific and focus on discussion or activity around a specific subject area. The term can sometimes refer to an interdis ...

on market access under the

Free Trade Area of the Americas The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) was a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce the trade barriers among all countries in the Americas, excluding Cuba. Negotiations to establish the FTAA ended in failure, however, with all parties unab ...

initiative.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of El Salvador

Presidency of El SalvadorSupreme Court of Justice of El Salvador
by Emma Vawter, ''The Yale Globalist'', May 11, 2009 {{Authority control