LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Syria: Government
built 636 days ago
Officially, Syria is a republic. In reality... it is an authoritarian regime that exhibits only the forms of a democratic system. Although citizens ostensibly vote for the President and members of Parliament, they do not have the right to change their government. The late President Hafiz Al-Asad was confirmed by unopposed referenda five times. His son, Bashar Al-Asad, also was confirmed by an unopposed referendum in July 2000. The Asad regime (little has changed since Bashar Al-Asad succeeded his father) has held power for a long time, second after Muammar Qadhaffi's 36 year dictatorship.
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Syria's predominantly statist economy has been growing, on average, more slowly than its 2.4% annual population growth rate, causing a persistent decline in per capita GDP. Recent legislation allows private banks to operate in Syria, although a private banking sector will take years and further government cooperation to develop. External factors such as the international war on terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the war between the US-led coalition and Iraq probably will drive real annual GDP growth levels back below their 3.5% spike in 2002. A long-run economic constraint is the pressure on water supplies caused by rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and increased water pollution.
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In Syria, Palestine refugees have access to government services such as government-run schools, universities and hospitals. UNRWA's services complement those of the Syrian Government. While the Syrian Government has taken on the responsibility for providing basic utilities in the camps, UNRWA provides basic environmental health services, including sewage disposal, collection and disposal of solid waste, and control of insect and rodent infestation. However, many of the water and sewerage systems are in need of upgrading, while some camps still lack networks altogether. Poor sanitation in the camps poses health risks for the refugees. In most of the refugee camps shelters remain very basic, and many require structural rehabilitation.
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Syria does not have an official state religion. The Syrian constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. Most religious activities are free from government involvement, although the government does monitor some religious sermons. Syrian Muslim women face some additional restrictions and are not allowed to marry non-Muslims, unlike Muslim men.
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The Baath takeover in Syria followed a Baath coup in Iraq the previous month. The new Syrian Government explored the possibility of federation with Egypt and with Baath-controlled Iraq. An agreement was concluded in Cairo on April 17, 1963, for a referendum on unity to be held in September 1963. However, serious disagreements among the parties soon developed, and the tripartite federation failed to materialize. Thereafter, the Baath regimes in Syria and Iraq began to work for bilateral unity. These plans foundered in November 1963, when the Baath regime in Iraq was overthrown.
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Syria's economy expanded dramatically during the 1940s, due to a combination of restrictions on imports and heightened spending by British and French occupation forces. The Korean War perpetuated the boom by creating greater demand for Syrian cotton on world markets. Private enterprise provided the main impetus for economic growth until the union with Egypt in 1958, when state officials introduced an extensive program of land reform, nationalization of industry, and regulation of commercial transactions. The short-lived parliamentary regime that seceded from the union in 1961 attempted to resurrect the private sector, but the Baʿth-affiliated officers who overthrew the civilian regime in March 1963 gradually extended government control over most sectors of the economy. State intervention peaked with the nationalization of industry, banking, and trade that began in January 1965. Under the regime of Salah Jadid (1966 - 1970), extensive state control accompanied the establishment of a network of production and distribution cooperatives, state farms, and Baʿth-affiliated popular-front organizations.
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