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Bahrain is a constitutional hereditary monarchy.

In February 2001, a referendum for a National Action Charter, to turn Bahrain into a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament, was voted into legislation by an overwhelming majority of 98.4 per cent. On the first anniversary of this event, His Majesty the King Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa declared a Kingdom, and ordered the full reactivation of Bahrain’s constitution, including the amendments dictated by the National Charter.

Bahrain has a bicameral legislature with a lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, elected by universal suffrage and the upper house, the Shura Council, appointed by the King. Both houses have forty members. The inaugural elections were held in 2002, with parliamentarians serving four year terms. The Charter ensures equality between the Shura Council and Parliament on the legislative specialisation for both bodies, but the monitoring role will be performed by Parliament.

The Charter gives equal rights to men and women, with all citizens having equal political rights and being entitled to elections and candidacy according to the law. In order to ensure that no law contradicts the constitutional provisions, it was agreed to establish a Constitutional Court to supervise the proper application of the constitutional rules and practices.

The constitution was also amended to achieve complete independence of the Financial Control Bureau, and to facilitate its monitoring role.