The country’s 1981 constitution establishes a parliamentary system, with a governor general representing the British monarch as ceremonial head of state. The prime minister is the head of government and is typically the leader of the majority party elected to Parliament. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) leader Gaston Browne maintained his position as prime minister after his party won a majority in the 2018 parliamentary elections.

The bicameral parliament is composed of a 17-seat Senate, whose members are appointed by the governor general, and the House of Representatives, whose 17 members are directly elected in single-seat constituencies, by means of a simple majority; representatives serve five-year terms.

The governing ABLP took 59 percent of the total vote and won 15 constituencies in the 2018 elections. The main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) took 37 percent of the vote, but only one constituency. Observers deemed the polls generally competitive and credible. The Barbuda Council also holds regular elections.

Electoral laws are generally fair and are implemented impartially by the relevant election management bodies. However, since 1984, the electoral boundaries of Antigua and Barbuda have shifted only slightly, which has created a significant disparity in the range of constituency sizes: from 1,138 (St. Phillip South) to 4,878 (St. George).

Political parties can organize and operate freely. While there are several small political parties in the country, elections have been won by either the ABLP or the UPP since 1994. The first-past-the-post electoral system makes it very difficult for smaller, less well-established parties to gain representation in the House of Representatives.

There are realistic opportunities for opposition parties to increase their support or gain power through elections. Power has alternated frequently between the ABLP and UPP.

People’s political choices are generally free from the influence of nondemocratic actors. However, a lack of transparency for party and campaign financing has given rise to concerns about the potential influence of unknown domestic and foreign interests over political candidates. The most significant case was that of R. Allen Stanford, a US citizen who was an influential figure in Antigua, and established a bank in the country from which he ran a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Women are underrepresented in politics, and only two women were elected to the House of Representatives in 2018. LGBT+ people are marginalized and face discrimination, impacting their ability to engage fully in political processes.

The elected prime minister, cabinet, and parliament determine government policies. There are some concerns about the influence of businesses on policymaking.

Tensions between the central government and residents and representatives from Barbuda have grown as the government has sought to weaken the Barbuda Land Act of 2007, which guaranteed that land on Barbuda was communally owned by Barbudans and that their consent was required for its purchase and development. The Barbuda Council has resisted the Browne government’s plans to develop the island. In 2020, the Council called for the secession of Barbuda, while the government accused the Council of treason and threatened to remove it from the country’s constitution.

Government corruption remains a concern, and anticorruption laws are enforced unevenly. Authorities have been criticized for doing little to investigate local official wrongdoing in several high-profile cases.

Antigua’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Program and Permanent Residence Certificate, in which individuals can be granted citizenship or residency in exchange for a sizable business investment or contribution, have been scrutinized in recent years. In March 2022, US legislators introduced the No Travel for Traffickers Act, making countries that operate CBI programs ineligible for the US visa waiver program. Also in March, Antigua suspended CBI applications from Russian and Belarusian nationals in response to the full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine. The European Parliament recommended in March that visa-free access into the European Union (EU) for countries operating CBIs should be restricted.

The government of Antigua and Barbuda has gradually improved its accountability structures, but there are deficiencies in how the Public Accounts Committee and the auditor general operate. Public officials must disclose all income, assets and personal gifts received in their official capacity in a confidential report to the Integrity Commission. Resource deficiencies have impeded the commission’s ability to investigate corrupt individuals. Despite the Procurement and Contract Management Act of 2011, concerns remain about public procurement—notably regarding the expertise of procurement officials, the completeness of documentation, and that some applications are made retroactively, often with a waiver being requested.

Press freedom is generally respected in Antigua and Barbuda. Criminal defamation was abolished in 2015. However, under the Sedition and Undesirable Publications Act, seditious libel is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum of two years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000. Journalists remain at risk of libel suits from politicians subject to media scrutiny. The prime minister has characterized the often-critical Observer as “fake news” and a threat to the country.

Most media outlets are concentrated among a small number of firms affiliated with either the ABLP or UPP.

The constitution provides for freedom of worship as well as the right to practice and change religion, and these freedoms are generally respected. A law outlawing blasphemous language is not enforced.

Academic freedom is generally respected.

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

Freedom of assembly is guaranteed under the constitution, and the government generally respects these rights in practice.

The country’s few nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are active, though inadequately funded and often influenced by the government. The NGO Women Against Rape was one of the plaintiffs in the successful 2022 case challenging the criminalization of same-sex relations.

Labor unions can organize freely and bargain collectively. Workers providing essential services must give notice two weeks before intent to strike. However, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has described the list of essential services as excessively broad. Strikes are rare.

The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, which is generally respected by the government. In 2018, voters rejected in a referendum the adoption of the Caribbean Court of Justice as their highest appellate court. Thus, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, based in London, retains that role.

In recent years, the courts have increasingly asserted independence from the ABLP government, with the support of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Constitutional guarantees of due process are mostly upheld. However, prisoners on remand often remain in jail for an average of three to four years before their cases are heard.

Residents of Antigua and Barbuda do not face any significant security threats. However, in 2021 the number of homicides increased dramatically, with 16 homicides compared to 9 in 2020. Ten homicides were recorded in 2022. Gun-related crimes have also increased in recent years.

Prisons are severely overcrowded, and conditions within them are poor. The occupancy rate as of September 2022 was 155 percent.

The 2005 Equal Opportunity Act bars discrimination based on race, gender, class, political affinity, or place of origin. There are no specific laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. Mental health services require improvement and people with physical disabilities are stigmatized and underemployed. Societal norms discourage participation of women in some sectors of the economy, and few women hold leadership positions in businesses.

In July 2022, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled that elements of the country’s Sexual Offences Act were unconstitutional, effectively decriminalizing same-sex sexual relations. The court found that certain sections went against a person’s “right to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, protection of personal property, and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex.” The court also held that a constitutional provision prohibiting sex discrimination also prohibits discrimination based on “gender identity, sexual character, and sexual orientation.” The court further ruled that “persons” must replace “a male person and a female person” in sections of the act defining intercourse.

Individuals enjoy freedom of movement, including the ability to change their place of residence, employment, or education.

Many Barbudans forced to evacuate the island due to Hurricane Irma in 2017 opposed moves by lawmakers in Antigua to eliminate the communal land ownership system that governed the island for almost two centuries, and instead establish private land ownership.

The development of a multimillion-dollar private resort on Barbuda has driven tensions between the Browne government and Barbudan population and their representatives, who are concerned about the environmental impacts of the development. The Browne government has threatened those who attempt to obstruct the plans with jail time. In June, Antigua and Barbuda’s final appellate court, the UK-based Privy Council, rejected a challenge to the Paradise Found Act 2015, which the appellants argued violated their constitutional right of “protection from deprivation of property” and infringed on communal land rights in Barbuda.

The Domestic Violence Act of 2015 strengthened punishments for perpetrators of domestic violence and laid out a process for victims to obtain an order of protection. However, domestic violence remains a serious problem.

In October, Antigua’s House of Representatives passed the Sexual Offenders Registry Bill, enacting increased monitoring of sex offenders and facilitating the sharing of information among jurisdictions. Debate on the bill involved balancing concerns between protecting victims and allowing for the rehabilitation of remorseful offenders.

Same-sex marriage and civil partnerships are not recognized.

Antigua and Barbuda is a destination and transit country for the trafficking of men, women, and children for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Government efforts to address the problem are inadequate, but progress is being made, according to the US State Department’s 2022 Trafficking in Persons report.

Compulsory labor is prohibited by law.

In May 2022, the government ratified the ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention. The document recognizes the right to go to work without experiencing violence and harassment with an emphasis on abuses experienced by women in the workplace, a well as the effects of domestic violence on women’s ability to work.