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Guyana Guyana: Government and Politics
![[GIF]](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/guyana/gy04_00a.gif)
National Assembly building in Georgetown
GUYANA IS OSTENSIBLY a parliamentary-style democracy with a
constitution, a National Assembly, a multiparty system, elections,
a president chosen by the majority party, a minority leader, and a
judicial system based on common law. Despite its democratic
institutions, independent Guyana has seen more than two decades of
one-party rule and strongman politics, perpetuated by manipulation,
racially based voting patterns, and a disenfranchisement of the
Guyanese people.
Since 1964 when People's National Congress (PNC) leader Linden
Forbes Burnham came to power, Burnham, his successor Hugh Desmond
Hoyte, and the PNC have dominated the politics of Guyana. Although
Burnham paid lip service to an ambitious political and economic
experiment, cooperative socialism, which was to develop Guyana to
the benefit of all Guyanese, his paramount concern seemed to be the
preservation and enhancement of his own political power. Burnham's
true agenda became apparent in 1974, when he announced the
subordination of all other institutions in Guyana to the PNC. The
late 1970s and early 1980s increasingly saw the government system
function primarily to benefit Burnham and his party.
After Burnham's death in 1985, the administration of Desmond
Hoyte abandoned many of the authoritarian policies of Hoyte's
predecessor. The new president chose to work largely within the
framework of the government, tolerated an opposition press, and
attempted to downplay the significance of rigid racial political
blocs. Whether these moves represented a strengthening of democracy
in Guyana or merely a tactical move motivated by economic hardship
remained to be determined.
Data as of January 1992
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