 thumb|tunisian chamber of deputies.  the politics of tunisia function within a framework of a democratic constitutional republic, with a president serving as head of state, prime minister as head of government, a bicameral legislature and a court system influenced by french civil law. between 1956 and 2011, tunisia operated as a de facto single party state, with politics dominated by the secular constitutional democratic rally (rcd) under former presidents habib bourgiba and then zine el abidine ben ali. however, in 2011 a national uprising led to the ousting of the president and the dismantling of the rcd, paving the way for a multi-party democracy. tunisia is a member of the arab league, the african union and the organisation of islamic cooperation. it maintains close relations with france and the european union, with which it entered an association agreement in 1995.european union association agreement, ministry of development and international cooperation, 2009. tunisiaâs favorable relations with the european union was earned following years of successful economic cooperation in the private sector and infrastructure modernization."tunisian partnership with europe" defense technical information center, 2004 ==structure of government== tunisia is a constitutional republic characterized by an executive president, a legislature and judiciary. the military is neutral and does not play any role in national politics. ===executive branch===  in tunisia, the president is elected to five-year terms. he appoints a prime minister and cabinet, who play a strong role in the execution of policy. regional governors and local administrators also are appointed by the central government. mayors and municipal councils are elected. ===legislative branch=== tunisia's legislative branch consists of the assembly of the representatives of the people, which consists of 217 seats. the first elections for the assembly of the representative of the people occurred on 26 october 2014. before 2011 revolution the parliament was bicameral. the lower house of the bicameral parliament was the chamber of deputies of tunisia (majlis al-nuwaab), which had 214 seats. members were elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. at least 25% of the seats in the house of deputies were reserved for the opposition. more than 27% of the members of the chamber of deputies were women. the lower house played a growing role a
Politics_of_Tunisia