The prime minister, usually the leader of the largest party in Parliament, is head of government. Following the 2022 elections, NDC leader Dickon Mitchell was sworn in as prime minister.

The prime minister is appointed by the governor-general, who represents the British monarch as head of state. Cécile La Grenade became Grenada’s first woman governor general in 2013.

The bicameral Parliament consists of the directly elected, 15-seat House of Representatives, whose members serve five-year terms, and the 13-seat Senate, which is appointed by the governor general. Of the Senate seats, 10 are appointed on the advice of the prime minister and the remaining 3 on the advice of the opposition leader; senators also serve five-year terms.

In the 2022 elections the NDC won 9 of the 15 seats in the House of Representatives and defeated the NNP government. Organization of American States (OAS) observers expressed concern over a lack of campaign finance regulations but deemed the polls credible.

Electoral laws are generally fair, and they are usually implemented impartially by the supervisor of elections, who heads the Parliamentary Elections Office.

The unbalanced sizes of constituencies have resulted in unequal voting power among citizens. Grenada has not updated constituency boundaries since gaining independence in 1974.

Political parties can organize freely. While a number of small parties have competed in elections, the first-past-the-post system encourages two-party politics. Since 1999 only the NNP and NDC have won seats in Parliament. Weak campaign finance laws potentially also create an unfair advantage for certain parties.

There are realistic opportunities for opposition parties to increase their support or gain power through elections, and power has rotated on several occasions since democracy was restored to Grenada in 1984. The NNP has won a majority of the elections since then, and the NDC failed to win any seats in the House of Representatives in the 2013 and 2018 elections.

People are generally able to express their political choices without encountering pressure from outside actors. However, the OAS has expressed concern about the lack of transparency and regulation of campaign finance procedures, which could create avenues for undue influence over candidates and voters by business or other special interest groups.

Grenada’s constitution guarantees universal suffrage for adult citizens. Political representation largely reflects the population, which is over 90 percent of African or mixed descent. However, other ethnic groups have a voice in politics and are represented in Parliament.

Women remain underrepresented in politics, with women winning only 5 of the lower house’s 15 seats in the 2022 polls. OAS observers reporting on those polls noted that “a high level of violence against women, fear of victimization, societal backlash for entering politics, and unpaid care-work” inhibit female participation. Women’s advocacy groups do exert political influence, however.

The marginalization of LGBT+ people impacts their ability to engage fully in political and electoral processes.

The appointed prime minister and cabinet and freely elected representatives determine the policies of the government.

Corruption remains a prominent issue in Grenada, despite safeguards enshrined in the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Integrity in Public Life Act. Several proposed amendments in a 2016 constitutional reform package would have strengthened anticorruption safeguards, but all were voted down by significant margins.

Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program, which allows foreigners to gain citizenship through an economic investment in the country, creates the potential for fraud and abuse, despite the tightening of rules governing it. In the first half of 2023 some 90 percent of the CBI applications Grenada approved were from Russians, despite the fact that the country stopped accepting applications from Russians at the end of March. In October 2023, the EU expressed concerns about the program’s security implications and promised to revise its rules on visa-free travel.

Since taking power in 2022, the NDC has accused the former NNP government of corruption. In 2023, it highlighted several cases, including the allegedly illegal sale of government land to an Indian businessman and EC$54.2 million (US$20 million) that went missing from an aborted shrimp farm project, which was linked to the country’s CBI program.

In February 2023, the NDC government decided to shut down the operations of the state-operated Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB). This followed earlier allegations that the MNIB had been financially mismanaged under the former NNP government. A 2022 investigation conducted by the Integrity Commission examined the MNIB’s operations and discovered several acts of wrongdoing, referring some to the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) for criminal investigation.

In March, Grenada’s former ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Justin Sun, was charged with fraud by the United States. The Chinese-born founder of the cryptocurrency company Tron was among nine charged with fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Sun was controversially appointed to the WTO by the NNP in 2021, but was removed when the NDC took power in 2022.

The government of Grenada generally operates with transparency. All public officials are required to declare their assets. An appointed commission monitors and verifies declarations but does not disclose them publicly except in court. Grenadian laws permit authorities to request financial information about its citizens residing abroad in an effort to prevent tax avoidance. The Fiscal Responsibility Oversight Committee has noted that the opacity of data involving state-run entities and other financial liabilities has impeded it from fulfilling its role.

There is no law to ensure public access to information.

In 2012, Grenada became the first Caribbean country to decriminalize defamation, but seditious libel remains a criminal offense. Politicians have initiated lawsuits against the media, contributing to self-censorship among journalists.

Press freedom advocates have criticized censorship at the country’s largest broadcaster, the Grenada Broadcasting Network, which is partly owned by the government.

Freedom of religion is constitutionally protected and generally respected in practice.

The government generally respects academic freedom.

Individuals are free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics.

Freedom of assembly is constitutionally guaranteed, and that right is generally respected.

NGOs are generally free to operate.

The right of workers to form and join labor unions is constitutionally protected, though unions and labor activists face some obstacles. Workers have the right to strike, organize, and bargain collectively, but employers are not legally bound to recognize a union if a majority of workers do not join.

Essential services workers may strike, but may be forced to participate in compulsory arbitration to resolve disputes. The list of essential services is extensive and includes services that should not be considered essential, according to International Labour Organization (ILO) standards.

An independent judiciary is constitutionally guaranteed and courts commonly demonstrate their independence. There has not been tangible evidence of political interference in the judiciary in recent years. However, there are concerns that the judiciary is not properly resourced, impacting its efficacy.

Grenada is a member of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States court system and is a charter member of the Caribbean Court of Justice, but the judiciary relies on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as its final court of appeal.

Detainees and defendants are guaranteed a range of legal rights, including the presumption of innocence and the right to trial without delay, which are mostly respected in practice. However, case backlogs have rendered trial delays common in practice. Additionally, staffing shortages prevent the state from providing legal counsel to some impoverished defendants.

Grenada is free from war and insurgencies. However, flogging remains a punishment for petty crimes and police brutality remains an issue. Prison conditions are poor, and as of August 2023, the prison occupancy rate was 194 percent of official capacity, very high by regional standards.

While Grenada is considered relatively safe, there are growing concerns about the level of violent crime. In September 2023, Prime Minister Mitchell announced that several measures to tackle the problem would be presented to Parliament, including changes to the Firearms Act.

Same-sex sexual activity between men is a criminal offense, although the law is rarely enforced. In 2020, the director of public prosecutions declined to pursue charges against two men who were engaged in sex in a video that was circulated online, labeling the provision of the criminal code “obsolete.” Nonetheless, LGBT+ people face significant societal discrimination, including threats of violence and public hostility. The law does not prohibit discrimination in employment or occupation regarding sexual orientation, HIV-positive status, or gender identity.

In a letter published by the New Today news outlet in 2022, a female RGPF officer claimed that sexual harassment and abuse was pervasive within the force, and that high-ranking officers had engaged in such behavior. A promised investigation into the claims had not been completed by the end of 2023.

Freedom of movement is constitutionally guaranteed, and this right is generally respected in practice. The right to change employment is also generally respected.

The government of Grenada has encouraged both national and foreign investors to operate businesses in the country, but procedures involved in establishing a new business are onerous.

In 2021, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes agreed to hear a case brought by a development firm against the Grenadian government. The company, which planned to build a resort, claimed that the government’s arbitrary and unlawful conduct had amounted to “indirect expropriation,” and prevented the successful completion of the project. In September 2023, the government agreed to compensate over 200 investors in a settlement totaling US$22 million.

Violence against women and children is a widespread issue in Grenada. According to a 2018 survey released in 2020, 29 percent of Grenadian women reported experiencing physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Domestic violence legislation came into effect in 2011, but enforcement has been limited.

Poverty and unemployment are pervasive and hamper the social mobility of many Grenadians. In 2018, Grenada ratified the ILO’s Domestic Workers Convention to improve work conditions of domestic workers, who are mainly women. It came into effect in 2019. Children are not explicitly prohibited from doing hazardous work.

A 2015 law punishes human trafficking with up to 25 years’ imprisonment and large fines. Reports of human trafficking are rare.