Guatemala: Government Structure

Guatemala is a presidential representative democratic republic in which the president serves as both head of state and head of government. The current constitution, adopted in 1985 after a period of military rule, established a formal separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, alongside a multi-party political system.

Executive power is exercised by the president and vice president, who oversee a cabinet of ministries and secretariats and are elected together to a single four-year term. The unicameral Congress of the Republic, composed of 160 deputies elected for four-year terms through a mix of departmental and national proportional representation, holds legislative authority and serves as a check on presidential power; many categories of legislation require a two-thirds majority to pass.

Judicial authority is divided between two highest courts. The Supreme Court of Justice, made up of thirteen magistrates serving five-year terms, functions as the country's highest court of appeals and oversees the broader judicial branch, while the five-member Constitutional Court is charged specifically with interpreting the constitution. Guatemala is further divided into twenty-two departments, each administered by a governor appointed by the president, with municipalities governed by popularly elected mayors.