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The Head of State of Trinidad and Tobago is the president, currently Professor Emeritus George Maxwell Richards. The President is elected by an Electoral College consisting of the full membership of both houses of Parliament. The parliament consists of two chambers, the Senate (31 seats) and the House of Representatives (36 seats). The members of the Senate are appointed by the president. The 16 Government Senators are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, the 6 Opposition Senators are appointed on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition and the 9 Independent Senators are appointed by the President to represent other sectors of civil society. The 36 members of the House of Representatives are elected by the people for a maximum of five years.

Party politics have generally run along ethnic lines, with Afro-Trinidadians supporting the People's National Movement (PNM) and Indo-Trinidadians supporting various Indian-majority parties, such as the United National Congress (UNC) or its predecessors. Most political parties, however, have sought to broaden their purview.

The general direction and control of the government rests with the Cabinet, led by a Prime Minister and answerable to the House of Representatives. The 36 members of the House are elected to terms of at least 5 years. Elections may be called earlier by the president at the request of the prime minister or after a vote of no confidence in the House of Representatives. In 1976, the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18. The Senate's 31 members are appointed by the President: 16 on the advice of the prime minister, six on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and nine independents selected by the President from among outstanding members of the community. Local government is through nine Regional Corporations and five municipalities. Tobago was given a measure of self-government in 1980 and is governed by the Tobago House of Assembly. In 1996, Parliament passed legislation which gave Tobago greater self-government.

The country has remained a member of the Commonwealth, and until 2003 has retained the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as its highest court of appeal.

The Democratic Action Congress (DAC) was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago founded by A.N.R. Robinson from the Action Commission of Democratic Citizens (ACDC) in 1971. It contested General Elections between 1976 and 1981 but was never able to control more than the two Tobago seats. In 1986 it merged into the National Alliance for Reconstruction.

Hurricane Flora was one of the strongest and deadliest hurricanes in history. Flora blasted through the Caribbean in September and October, 1963. Flora first struck the island of Tobago as a Category 3 hurricane where it caused such great damage that it changed the economy of the island from cash-crop agriculture towards tourism and fishing. Flora then crossed the Caribbean Sea and strenghened to a Category 4 whand slammed into the southern part of Haiti before hitting Cuba near Guantanamo Bay. Flora then slowed up and stalled over Cuba before veering 180 degrees and heading to the northeast into the Atlantic, sparing the East Coast of the U.S..

Although Tobago lies to the south of the hurricane belt, it was nevertheless struck by Hurricane Flora on September 30, 1963. The effects of the hurricane were so severe that it changes the face of Tobago's economy. The hurricane laid waste to the plantations of Banana, Coconut and Cocoa, which largely sustained the economy. It also wreaked considerable damage to the largely pristine tropical rainforest that makes up a large proportion of the interior of the northern half of the island. Subsequently, many of the plantations were abandoned and the economy changed direction away from cash crop agriculture towards tourism.

Scarborough, Tobago is the largest town on Tobago, one of the two islands of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and contains more than half of the population of the island. The town is dominated by Fort King George, a 18th Century fortification named for King George III which now hosts a historic/archaeologic museum.

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a unitary state, with a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the UK, from whom it gained independence in 1962. Under the 1976 republican Constitution, the British monarch was replaced as head of state by a President chosen by an electoral college composed of the members of the bicameral Parliament, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Since December 24, 2001, the governing party has been the People's National Movement led by Patrick Manning; the Opposition party is the United National Congress led by Basdeo Panday.