It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a judiciary and legislative branches.

The Chief Minister is the head of government and is vested with most of the executive powers.

According to the Constitution of India, the Governor is a state's head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister.

In the Republic of India, a chief minister is the elected head of government of the each state out of 28[4] states and sometimes a union territory (currently, only the UTs of Delhi and Puducherry have serving Chief Ministers).

Following elections to the Bihar Legislative Assembly, the governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government.

The inaugural holder was Sri Krishna Sinha of the Indian National Congress, he also has the longest incumbency.

Despite being not mentioned in the constitution or law, the Deputy-Chief minister office is often used to pacify factions within the party or coalition.

It is similar to the rarely used Deputy-Prime minister post in Central government of India.

During the absence of the Chief minister, the deputy-CM may chair cabinet meetings and lead the Assembly majority.

The governor is appointed for five years and acts as the constitutional head of the state.

Even though the governor remains the ceremonial head of the state, the day-to-day running of the government is taken care of by the chief minister and his council of ministers in whom a great deal of legislative powers is vested..

The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years from the date appointed for its first sitting unless dissolved sooner.

Members of the upper house, the Legislative Council are indirectly elected through an electoral college.

High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters, if so designated Specially in a state or federal law It was established on February 3, 1916, and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915 (5 & 6 Geo.

The foundation-stone of the High Court Building was laid on 1 December 1913 by the late Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Sir Charles Hardinge of Penshurst.

The Patna High Court building on its completion was formally opened by the same Viceroy on 3 February 1916.

At the national level, the head of government, the prime minister, is appointed by the president of India from the party or coalition that has the majority of seats in the Lok Sabha.

In Bihar Vidhan Parishad, 1/3 of the total members in the house gets elected every 2 years with 6-year term.

The Communist Party of India had a strong presence in Bihar at one time, which has since weakened.

Structurally Bihar is divided into divisions (Pramandal), districts (Zila), sub-divisions (Anumandal) & circles (Aanchal).The state is divided into nine divisions, 38 districts, 101 subdivisions and 534 circles.