Most governments separate roles. A head of state formally represents the country — a president or a monarch, for example — while a head of government runs the day-to-day administration, often a prime minister or a president depending on the system. In some countries one person holds both roles; in others they are deliberately split. Describing this division is a matter of fact, not judgment: it simply names who does what under a country’s rules.
Government functions are commonly grouped into three branches. The executive carries out laws and runs public administration; the legislature debates and passes laws and typically controls budgets; the judiciary interprets laws and resolves disputes. Constitutions distribute powers among these branches differently — some concentrate authority, others spread it through checks and balances — and PolisWatch records the arrangement a country uses without rating it.
Legislatures are either unicameral (one chamber) or bicameral (two chambers, often an upper and a lower house). A second chamber may represent regions, provide an extra stage of review, or give a different constituency a voice; a single chamber can be simpler and faster to legislate. Neither design is presented here as superior. We report the structure — number of chambers, their names and how seats are filled — and link to the official body.
These basics are reference facts drawn from structured public sources. Where a detail is contested — for instance a disputed office-holder or an unrecognized claim of authority — PolisWatch labels it as contested rather than resolving it, and points to primary and official sources so readers can check the record themselves.