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Colombia is governed under a 1991 constitution. The president serves a four-year term. The legislature, subservient to the president, consists of a senate and a house of representatives. The members are apportioned among the departments (states) and popularly elected for four-year terms. The supreme court is chosen by the president and the legislature. The Conservative and Liberal parties, formed in the 1800s, dominate political life. To insure stability, the two formed the National Front Coalition in 1957 and agreed to divide the major offices between them and alternate in the presidency. The coalition, which ended in late 1973, was challenged in the 1960s by the Popular National Alliance, formed by the former dictator Rojas Pinilla.
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