I talk about Bolivia's government system from executive, to legislative and how elections work in the country.

1. February 6,
2020
The Government System of Bolivia
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-bolivia/
Bolivia is a landlocked country in central South America, bordered with five countries,
Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile. It was once part of the Spanish Empire but
eventually gained independence in August 1825 after many attempts and a long-fought
war. At some point after this a short-lived confederation was formed between Bolivia and
neighboring Peru, but was dissolved after a war with Chile, after this Bolivia lost a lot of
its territory to surrounding countries in further wars and disputes. The country has also
suffered civil wars and military coups.
The country has two capital cities, the first is Sucre, located in the southern highlands of
Bolivia and named after the revolutionary leader Antonio Jose de Sucre, it is the country’s
constitutional and judicial capital and the other capital is La Paz, located in west-central
Bolivia and is the country’s executive and legislative capital. Sucre is the main capital as
stated by the constitution.
The official language is Spanish as well as 36 other indigenous languages. The largest
ethnic group is Mestizo and the largest religion is Roman Catholic. The country’s
currency is the Bolivian boliviano and the population is 11.05 million as of 2017.
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2. The country’s varied terrain spans Andes mountains, the Atacama Desert and the
Amazon Basin rainforest.
Government Type
Bolivia’s Coat of Arms
The country is a Presidential Democratic Republic with a single elected leader who is the
President, acting as both the Head of State and Head of Government.
The legislative government is operated by a bicameral, upper and lower house, Pluri-
National parliament.
Multiple parties are allowed.
Executive Government
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3. Seat of Executive Government. Photo byexrorro from Flickr. License.
The country has a single leader, the President who is Head of State, representing the
country abroad and in its foreign affairs and is also Head of Government, overlooking
and being in charge of the functioning of executive government.
The President of Bolivia has a host of powers including being able to declare a state of
emergency due to danger to the security of the state, external threats, internal
disturbances or natural disasters, parliament must give its consent to the state of
emergency. The President can convoke the parliament to take up matters under
extraordinary circumstances. The President also proposes and directs governing policy,
directs public administration and coordinates actions of Ministers of State.
Also directs foreign policy, signs international treaties, names public diplomats and admit
foreign officials pursuant to the law. Can also issue supreme decrees and resolutions.
Administers state revenues and decrees their investment by the Ministry of the
appropriate branch, presents economic and social development plans, presents General
Budget of the State to parliament and names people to public offices from a list of
candidates proposed by the parliament.
Also designates and substitutes the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and the
Commanders of the Army, Air Force and Navy and also the General Commander of the
Bolivian Police. Also proposes promotions to the parliament.
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4. Designates representatives to the Electoral Organ and also designates Ministers of State
while respecting the Pluri-National character of the country and gender equity in the
composition of the ministerial cabinet. Also designates Attorney General of the State.
Can also propose legislation of economic urgency to parliament which must be given
priority attention.
Can also decree amnesty and pardon, which must be approved by parliament.
The President also reviews and promulgates laws passed by parliament, he can though
hold back on promulgation and send observations to be considered to the Commision of
the Assembly, if parliament considers the observations well founded then it will amend
accordingly and return the bill to be promulgated, if not then the President of the
Assembly will instead promulgate the law.
Legislative Government
Legislative Assembly. Photo by Marc Davis from Flickr. License.
The legislative government is made up of a bicameral parliament with the House of
Deputies being the lower house and the House of Senators being the upper house. The
parliaments main purpose is to approve and sanction laws that have been introduced
and can also amend laws, both houses can introduce legislation, on top of members and
executive government being able to introduce legislation, legislation can also be
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5. introduced by citizens, autonomous governments of the territorial entities and the
Supreme Court can introduce legislation with respect to initiative related to the
administration of justice.
Laws and rules of each chamber are determined by the chambers themselves.
Legislation is reviewed and introduced by commissions. Both Houses are presided over
by a President and Deputies who regulate debate and ensure house rules are followed.
Other powers include electing six parliamentary members to the Pluri-National Electoral
Organ, by a two-thirds vote. Pre-selects candidates for the constitutional court, supreme
court, agro-environmental court and the council of magistrates. Confirm new territorial
units and establish their boundaries, approve economic and social development plans
from the executive government.
The parliament also approves the general state budget presented by the executive
government, which must be considered within sixty days otherwise if no action is taken
within that time the budget will be considered approved.
They also ratify international treaties and approve contracts of public importance and
also approves the disposal of assets of public dominion of the state. Parliament can also
question any members or Ministers of State and can also censure ministers and can
undertake investigations through commissions.
Also authorizes use of military troops, armaments and war material outside of the
territory of the state and determine purpose and length of operation.
The Chamber of Deputies has a set 130 members and is the lower house of parliament.
The lower house has additional powers to propose a list of candidates to the country’s
President for the designation of the presidents of the economic and social entities and
other positions in which the State participates.
The Chamber of Senators has a set 36 members and is the upper house of parliament. It
has additional powers to confirm or deny appointments of ambassadors and
plenipotentiary ministers proposed by the country’s president. Legislation initiatives on
decentralization, autonomies and land registry and regulations are always introduced in
the Chamber of Senators.
Both houses join together to inaugurate and close sessions, to receive oath of Vice-
President and President, to accept or reject resignation of Vice-President or President, to
consider laws that were vetoed by the executive government, to consider bills passed by
the chamber of origin but were rejected by the other chamber of parliament that
reviewed it, to approve states of emergency, to authorize trial of Vice-President or
President and to designate Attorney General of the State and the Public Defender.
Legislative bills passed by parliament are sent to the executive government to be
promulgated.
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6. Electoral System
Departments of Bolivia. Photo byTUBS from Wikimedia. License.
Parliamentary elections for both houses happen every 5-years, the lower house, House
of Deputies are elected in two different ways, 70 are directly elected from single-seat
electoral districts using first past the post, 63 members are elected using a proportional
representation system from multi-seat electoral districts who are elected from party lists
and another 7 are elected by indigenous people from special electoral districts.
Distribution of lower house seats across departments is based on each department’s
population level.
The upper house of parliament, the House of Senators, holds elections in each
department, where four senators are elected in each of the 9 country departments using
a proportional representation system with candidates chosen from party lists.
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7. To be a candidate for either house one must satisfy general requisites for public service,
be at least 18-years or older and have lived in the corresponding district for at least 2-
years. Members of parliament are limited to serving two continuous terms.
Presidential elections are held every 5-years to elect the President and Vice-President.
Both positions are elected by popular vote, with a requirement for the winner to either
get 50% of the vote or a minimum of 40% of the valid votes cast, with a difference of at
least 10% of the 2nd place candidate to win. If these conditions are not met then a 2nd
round is held with the top two candidates, won by simple majority. Both positions are
limited to two continuous terms.
Candidates for President or Vice-President must satisfy general conditions of the public
servant, be at least 30-years or older and have resided permanently in the country for at
least 5-years.
The Vice-President can take over in temporary absence of the President for a max of 90-
days. If Vice-President is absent the President of the Senate takes over and if the
President of the Senate is absent then the President of the Chamber will take over.
Elections must be called within 90-days.
To vote in elections a person must be a citizen of Bolivia and at least 18-years or older.
Although voting is meant to be compulsory, it isn’t enforced.
Thank you for reading, next up will be the government system of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
My sources for this blogpost are from Bolivia’s 2009 constitution and so is as accurate as
possible but if you are using this information in a serious capacity it is important to
cross-check as the possibility remains that I may have mis-interpreted some things, as
well as that the constitution can also change and so over time certain things may
become outdated on this post.
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