Politics of the Caribbean These systems are related to the their colonial history.

1. Politics of the Caribbean • These systems are related to the their colonial history. • The major political system is democracy. • The party system includes many other political parties. • You have the one part, two part and multi-party system. • One party system can be found in Cuba. • Two party system can be found in Jamaica and Barbados. • Multi-party system can be found in Haiti, Suriname and Guyana. • In the Caribbean we encounter cases where we had both two and one party system but in some cases the one party system can be more dominant.

2. The Caribbean is a diverse political melting pot, mainly influence by the variety of colonial history.

4. History of the Government Time Line in Belize • 1936 1961 1981 • 1937 1962 • 1939 1964 • 1941 1965 • 1949 1968 • 1950 1969 • 1952 1973 • 1954 1975 • 1955 1976 • 1958 1977 • 1960 1980

5. Constitution of Belize The Basics • The The Constitution is the Supreme Laws of the land. The Constitution is a statement of fundamental laws; a written statement outlining the basic laws or principles by which Belize is governed. History • The Constitution of Belize came into effect on September 21st, 1981; the day Belize became an independent nation.

6. PART 1 • What Belize is and its boundaries; Constitution established as supreme law. PART 2 Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms • Fundamental rights and freedoms; rights to life, personal liberty, law, inhuman treatment, slavery and forced labour, arbitrary search and entry; freedom of movement, conscience, expression, assembly and association; privacy, work, racial discrimination, deprivation of property.

7. Part 3 Citizenship • Becoming a citizen on Independence day (September 21). Born in Belize on or after. Born outside Belize on or after. Registration. PART 4The Governor-General • Establishment. Acting Governor-General. Oath. Deputy's functions. Exercise. Information on matters of government. • There shall be a Governor-General of Belize who shall be a citizen of Belize appointed by Her Majesty and shall hold office during Her Majesty's pleasure and who shall be Her Majesty's representative in Belize. • 1. During any period when the office of Governor-General is vacant or the holder of the office of Governor-General is absent from Belize or is for any other reason unable to perform the functions of his office those functions shall be performed by such person as Her Majesty may appoint. • 2. Any such person as aforesaid shall not continue to perform the functions of the office of Governor-General if the holder of the office of Governor-General or some other person having a prior right to perform the functions of that office has notified him that he is about to assume or resume those functions.

8. Part 5 Executive • Executive authority. Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Performance of functions during absence or illness. Ministers of Government and portfolio allocation. Attorney General. Performance of ministerial functions. Cabinet. Ministers of State. Oath taken by Ministers, etc. Leader of the Opposition. PART 6The Legislative • Largest part, covering sections 55-93. • Establishment, House of Representatives, Senate, Clerks to Houses, Legislative power and alteration of Constitution, Procedure and Oath, Voting, Bills and Quorums, Prorogation and Dissolution, General Elections, Elections and Boundaries Commission, electoral divisions.

9. Part 7 The Judiciary Sections 94-104. • Establishment of Supreme Court, Court of Appeal. PART 8 The Public Service • Sections 105-113. • Public Services Commission. Appointment of public officers and other civil servants. Discipline. Pensions.

10.  Part 9 Finance • Sections 114-120. • Consolidated Revenue Fund, Contingencies Fund. Remuneration, public debt and audit. Part 10 Miscellaneous • Sections 121-131. • Code of Conduct. National Symbols. Appointments. Removal and Resignations. Consultation. National Seal. Interpretation.

11. PART 11 Transitional Provision • Sections 132-140. • Interpretation of section. Constitution's transitional powers. Existing laws. First Governor General. Ministers, National Assembly, public officers. Courts. Alteration. PART 12 Repeal and Dates of Commencement • Sections 141 and 142. • Commencement. Revocations. • Schedules • 1: Definition of Belize. • 2: Alteration of Constitution (Section 69). • 3: Oath of Allegiance and Office • 4: Revocations.

12. Teaching Political Science includes • Studying the social science is vital for many reasons. It allows students to: • Understand the society in which they lived to learn how society structure, managed and governed and also about the forces seeking to transform and redirect society in various ways. • To grow up as active, responsible, and reflective member of society. • To lean and respect differences of opinion, life styles and culture practices. • To question and examine received ideas, institution and practices.

13. Approaches to teaching • Political Science teaching needs to be re-energized towards helping the learner acquire knowledge and skills in an interactive environment. The teaching of political science must adopt methods that promote creativity, aesthetics, and critical perspectives and enable children to draw relationship between past and present, to understand changes taking place in society. • Problem solving, dramatization and role play are some strategies to use. • Teaching should utilize greater resources of audio-visuals materials, including photographs, charts and maps. • In order to make the process of learning participative there is a need to shift from mere impacting of information to debate and discussion. This approach to learning will keep both the leaner and teacher alive to political science. • Concepts should be clarified to students through the lived experience of individuals and communities. The approach to teaching therefore has to be opened. Teacher should discuss different dimension of social reality in the class, and work towards creating increasing self awareness amongst themselves and the learner.

14. Teaching Learning Materials • While developing teaching learning materials the following must be taken into consideration • Equal teaching time and marks should be allocated to the various components in political science. • A right balance must be maintained in the distribution of themes amongst the different disciplines and wherever possible interrelationship should be indicated. • Topics should be logically arranged in the right sequence maintaining consistency throughout the curriculum.