Papua New Guinea is part of the British Commonwealth and as a democratic constitutional monarchy, the Head of State is Queen Elizabeth II. She is represented by the Governor-General who is elected by Members of the National Parliament. The electoral system is undergoing regular revision, recently moving from a first-past-the-post system to a limited preferential system.

There are three levels of government - national, provincial and local. The unicameral National Legislature consists of 109 elected members. The Head of the Government is the Prime Minister who selects a cabinet. Each of the 19 provinces has one elected member who is also the Provincial Governor, and these complement the 89 regional electorates. Each province has its own assembly and administration.

The judiciary has the Supreme Court, National Court and local and village courts and operates independently from the legislature or public service. One of the characteristics of the current political system is that votes of no-confidence against a leader cannot be made in the first 18 months of the electoral term. As a result, as soon as this timeframe has passed, such votes of no-confidence regularly occur with frequent changes in leadership.