The document discusses Colombia's governmental system from its independence in 1810 to present day. It covers: - Colombia has had 10 constitutions since 1810, with the current one established in 1886 that set up a unitary republic. - The constitutions addressed division of powers, strength of the executive, and the role of the Catholic Church. - The issue of a strong central government versus a decentralized federal system was important in constitutional development. - The document provides details on the powers granted to the president and limitations over time in various constitutions. It also discusses amendments over time and the current system of three branches of government with separation of powers.

1. THE GOVERMENTAL SISTEM DIEGO VILLAMIZAR JUAN SEBASTIAN PULIDO R. CARLOS JAVIER MORENO N. DIEGO ALEJANDRO GOMEZ M. 5A 2010

2. MAIN IDEAS Since declaring its independence from Spain in 1810, Colombia has had ten constitutions, the last of which--adopted in 1886-- established the present-day unitary republic. Colombia has had ten constitutions, the last of which--adopted in 1886-- established the present-day unitary republic. These constitutions addressed three important issues: the division of powers, the strength of the chief executive, and the role of the Roman Catholic Church. Issue of a strong central government versus a decentralized federal system was especially important in the nation's constitutional development.

3. In settling the federal-unitary debate, the 1886 Constitution specifies that sovereignty resides in the nation, which provides guarantees of civil liberties. The 1821 constitution authorized the president to appoint all governmental officials at both the national and the local levels. The 1830 constitution further strengthened executive powers by creating the Public Ministry, which enabled the president to supervise judicial affairs. The 1832 and 1840 constitutions allowed the president to assume additional powers during a national emergency. The federal constitutions of 1853 and 1863, however, limited presidential control by granting many powers to the territorial departments, by allowing offices to be filled by election rather than appointment, and by depriving the president of authority to assume additional emergency powers. The 1886 Constitution establishes three branches of government--the executive, legislature, and judiciary--with separation of powers and checks and balances. The Constitution, by noting that labor is a social obligation-- protected by the state--guarantees the right to strike, except in the public service. The Constitution, as amended, also gives all citizens a legal right to vote if they are at least eighteen years old, have a citizenship card, and are registered to vote. The 1886 Constitution restored strong executive powers primarily through the president's ability to invoke a state of siege under Article 121 and a state of emergency under Article 122. A 1961 constitutional amendment also requires that Congress remain in permanent session during a state of siege, although it may not contravene the president's decrees. In contrast, the 1853 and 1863 constitutions, which guaranteed religious freedom and prohibited religious bodies from owning real estate, abolished the church's privileged status.

4. The preamble to the amendments adopted by a national plebiscite in 1957 also notes the privileged position of the Roman Catholic Church, stating that the "Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Religion is that of the nation" and as such is to be "protected" and "respected" by the public powers of the state. The president may also use these emergency measures to raise revenue, adopt short-term economic plans, or override any of the semiautonomous government agencies involved in the crisis. The Constitution has undergone extensive and frequent amendments, the most significant of which included legislative acts in 1910, 1936, 1945, 1959, and 1968; a national plebiscite and legislative decrees in 1957; and economic reform in 1979 The most important constitutional amendments resulted from the Sitges Agreement and the subsequent San Carlos Agreement, drawn up by Liberal and Conservative leaders together at meetings in 1957 The 1936 amendment requires a majority of those present and voting in the first session of the bicameral Congress and a majority of the total membership of both houses in the second session. In May 1957, the two rival parties had united in the National Front coalition, which was envisioned as a bipartisan way to end la violence and dictatorial rule. A president must obtain the consent of the ministers before making such a declaration and specify, in advance, a time period not to exceed ninety days. With the backing of the military, the National Front displaced the repressive regime of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (June 1953-May 1957).

5. The 1957 amendments essentially changed the nature of the government from a competitive system characterized by intense party loyalties and political violence to a coalition government in which the two major parties shared power. The 1968 reforms also ended, beginning in 1970, the parity requirement for legislative seats at the municipal and departmental levels. Although the Sitges and San Carlos agreements' provisions for alternating the presidency and maintaining party parity in Congress ended in 1974 when both parties ran candidates for the presidency, parity in the bureaucracy continued for another four years. By the mid-1960s, la violence had been reduced largely to banditry and an incipient guerrilla movement. Second, it provided for parity in elective and appointive positions at all levels of government, including cabinet and Supreme Court positions not falling under the civil service, as well as the election of equal numbers of party members to local, departmental, and national assemblies. Liberal president Julio César Turbay Ayala, who took office in 1978, and Conservative president Belisario Betancur Cuartas--elected in 1982--both gave half of their cabinet positions to rival party members. The constitutional changes, particularly the abolition of the two-thirds majority requirement in both houses of Congress for the passage of major legislation, also affected the powers of Congress and its relationship with the president. This amendment allows the government to intervene in the production, distribution, utilization, and consumption of goods and services in a manner responsive to economic planning for integral development.

6. That February, however, President Barco responded to a wave of attacks by drug traffickers and guerrillas by launching an effort to rewrite the Constitution and make it a more effective weapon in the fight against violence. Municipal elections held in March 1988 determined the party composition of a fifty-member panel, called the Institutional Readjustment Commission, whose purpose was to ask voters to approve constitutional changes in the planned October plebiscite. The Nariño House Accord was suspended in April 1988, however, as a result of a decision by the Council of State (Consejo de Estado)-- the highest court on constitutional and administrative matters-- that the holding of a plebiscite would have raised a constitutional problem. According to the ruling, only Congress may revise the Constitution (a procedure that takes two years). The leaders of various political parties and factions signed a political agreement, called the Nariño House Accord, that signaled a consensus on the need to hold a national plebiscite on October 9, 1988, on the institutional reforms proposed by Barco.

7. DIVISION . OF . POWERS

8. DIVISION OF POWERS DIVISION OF POWERS IS A PARTIE BECAUSE IS A INSTITUTION THAT HELP ORGANIZE THE DEMOCRATIC PROSESS, EACH PARTIE SELECT A CANDIDATE THAT CAN REPRESENTED THE ELECTIONS LOCAL, REGIONAL OR NATIONAL. DIVISION OF POWERS MEANS THE EQUALITY THAT IS NEEDED IN ORDER TO RUN A STATE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN PEACE AND ESTABILITY BETWEEN SOCIETY IST GOVERMENT. THERE ARE THREE POWERS: LEGISTATIVE, JUDICIARY AND DUDIARY AND EACH POWER HAVE THE POWER TO CONTROL ALL THE OTHERS.

9. CENTRAL GOVERMENT

10. CENTRAL GOVERMENT Central goverment is the goverment at the level of the nation-state. Usual responsibilities of this level of government are maintaining national security and exercising international diplomacy, including the right to sign binding treaties. Basically, the central government has the power to make laws for the whole country, in contrast with local governments. Central government-within this structure are the government ministries and departments and agencies to which the ministers of government are assigned. Central government also works alongside agencies to help with tax collection.

11. COMMON WELFARE

12. CATHOLIC CHURCH ROMAN

13. The Catholic community is made up of an ordained ministry and the laity; members of either group may belong to organized religious communities. The Church defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity. It operates social programs and institutions throughout the world, including Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, missions and shelters, and the charity confederation Caritas Internationalis. Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest catholic church. It has more than a billion members, over half of all Catholics and more than one-sixth of the world's population, although the number of lapsed Christians is not reliably known. And have some monasteris.

14. CIVIL LIBERTIES

15. CIVIL LIBERTIES . Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that protect an individual from the state. Civil liberties set limits on government so that its members cannot abuse their power and interfere unduly with the lives of private citizens. Common civil liberties include the rights of people, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally, the right to due process, to a trial, to own property, and to privacy. The formal concept of civil liberties dates back to the English legal charter 1215, which in turn was based on pre-existing documents namely the English Charter of Liberties, a landmark document in English legal history.