The constitutional monarchy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan vests executive and legislative authority in the King, who appoints the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to manage the affairs of government. The King appoints the 55 Senators while the 110-member Chamber of Deputies is elected. In 2003 multi-party elections were deemed free and fair. An amendment introduced a quota of 6 seats for women in the Chamber of Deputies in 2003. There are 4 women in the Chamber and 4 women in the Cabinet. 9 Chamber seats are reserved for Christians, 9 for Bedouins, and 3 for either Circassian or Chechen ethnic minorities. In Parliament 7 Senators and 17 Deputies are of Palestinian origin. The judiciary is independent in law but is reported to be subject to political pressure. Allegations of corruption are reported against both the executive and legislative branches.

Shari'a and Christian courts have jurisdiction over marriage and divorce for Muslims and Christians respectively. Unlike in civil court, in Shari'a courts the testimony of a man is equal to that of 2 women. Members of the security forces are accused of abusing the human rights of detainees. The government allows prison visits by independent human rights observers.

High unemployment and persistent poverty, particularly rural poverty, are reported.

Freedom of speech and of the press are guaranteed in law but limted in practice. Legislation imposes restrictions on newspapers, and journalists are reported to practise self-censorship. Criticism of the Royal Family, the government or foreign leaders is prohibited. Anyone who writes, publishes or airs statements considered to harm the state's reputation and dignity can be prosecuted. The use of informants and censors is noted. Some books are banned for religious, moral or political reasons. But international satellite television is unrestricted. Internet sites that contained information deemed objectionable about the King are being investigated.

Certain social benefits require national identity cards, which record religion, except for unrecognised religions such as Druze and Baha'i and for atheists, who must choose a recognised religion for identification purposes.

Education is compulsory to age 16, but the legislation is not enforced. Supplements to cover tuition, meals and transportation are provided to large families or to very poor families. Overall school attendance is comparatively high. Private schools operate throughout the country.

The government has denied Iraqi children admittance to public schools unless they are legal residents or are recognised as refugees by the UNHCR. The government is attempting to address educational development and quality as well as the relevance of education to the job market. Students must obtain a good-behaviour certificate to qualify for admission to the university under a quota system.

Illegitimate children have the same rights under the law as legitimate children, but they suffer discrimination in a society that does not tolerate premarital sex. Most illegitimate children become wards of the state or live on the fringes of society. Illegitimate children who are not acknowledged by their fathers are considered stateless and are not given passports or identity cards and so are denied social benefits.

A 2-year programme begins at age 4. All ECE is private. The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) is 27%. There are 4,245 ECE teachers (98% female). The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 20 : 1.

Education is compulsory for ages 6 to 15. Primary school begins at age 6 and lasts 6 years. At this level 29% of education is private. The NER is 93% (49% female). Of students who enrol in Grade 1, 96% reach the last grade of primary school. There are 39,441 primary teachers (64% female). The PTR is 20 : 1.

Secondary education begins at age 12 and lasts 6 years. At this level 16% of education is private. 20% of students in upper secondary education study in technical vocational programmes. The NER is 82%. 1% of students repeat grades. There are 34,294 secondary teachers, 21,835 (62% female) in lower secondary and 12,459 (49% female) in upper secondary education. The PTR is 20 : 1 in lower secondary and 14 : 1 in upper secondary schools.

186,189 students (51% female) study in tertiary institutions, for a Gross Enrolment Rate of 35%. At this level 37% of education is private. There are 15,816 foreign students studying in Jordan, coming mainly from the Arab States (13,350), North America and Western Europe (1,325), Asia (647), Sub-Saharan Africa (205), Central and Eastern Europe (165) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81). At the same time, 6,942 Jordanian students are studying abroad, mainly in the USA (1,853), the UK (1,151), Germany (996), Saudi Arabia (438) and Moldova (280).

In 2005, Jordan was presented with an award by the UN for its work on improving the lives of its citizens with disabilities. Jordanian law provides access to education for disabled persons commensurate with their abilities and provides the right to have work commensurate with their capabilities and qualifications and to live and work in an environment that allows them safe and secure freedom of movement and the right to participate in any decision-making relevant to their lives. Legislation provides for those with multiple and severe disabilities the right to education, training and rehabilitation as well as the right to obtain the aids, equipment and materials to assist them in education, training, movement and transportation.
However, high unemployment levels restrict job opportunities for some 220,000 persons with disabilities.

The law requires that 2% of available public sector jobs be reserved for persons with physical disabilities. Private organisations and members of the Royal Family actively promote programmes to protect and advance the interests of persons with disabilities.

Jordan is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and it has not established a system for providing protection to refugees. However, it also does not force the return of people to a country where they fear persecution.

The violence in neighbouring countries, particularly Iraq, has led to an increase in the number of persons seeking refugee status in Jordan. The government estimates that over 300,000 Iraqis reside in the country. After fleeing violence and persecution in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in Jordan face a daily threat of arrest, fines and deportation because of their status as illegal immigrants rather than refugees. The UNHCR is responsible for determining the status of those seeking asylum but cannot keep up with demand in Jordan. The UNHCR is urging the government to provide temporary refugee status for Iraqis to permit them to receive benefits in Jordan including the right to education.

The children of Iraqi asylum-seekers are denied admittance to school unless their families present evidence of legal residency in Iraq. Educational clinics have been established by NGOs to enable children to continue their studies.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the government continued to provide assistance to 1.768 million Palestinian refugees. UNRWA also runs centres for children with learning difficulties. Pupils in Grades 1 to 4 who cannot keep up with their classmates in mathematics and Arabic are referred to these centres, where they receive special education. Children attend the centres for 2 or 3 hours a day and spend the rest of the day in their regular classes to study other subjects.

Palestinians residing in the country suffered discrimination in appointments to positions in the government and the military, in admittance to public universities and in the granting of university scholarships. The government granted citizenship to all Palestinians who fled to the country in the period after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and to a large number of refugees and displaced persons who arrived as a result of the 1967 war. The country's indigenous people, both nomadic Bedouin and East Bank town-dwellers, are the backbone of support for the Hashemite monarchy. They dominate in senior military, security and civil service positions as well as in government.

Some academics claim they were threatened with dismissal, and there are continual reports of ongoing intelligence presence in academic institutions. In an amendment seen as an effort to curb the influence of Islamists operating on campus, the President of Jordan University gained the authority to appoint half of the 80 members of the student council, a decision opposed by the students. Islamist university students were disciplined by academic councils for political activities unrelated to their studies, being either dismissed or refused permission to write exams.

Women have the legal right to equal pay for work of equal value, but in practice the law is often ignored. Union leaders report that some private sector employers pay their female employees less than the legal minimum wage, and the wage disparity between men and women is said to increase with salary. Social pressures discourage women from pursuing professional careers, though the professions offer employment opportunities for women and members of the Royal Family actively promote the rights of women. The Jordanian National Commission for Women has developed a strategy to increase the role of women in the country's development.

Discrimination against women continues in matters of pension and social security benefits, inheritance, divorce, ability to travel, child custody, citizenship and value of testimony in court. Men receive more generous social security benefits than women, and the pension payments of a deceased male civil servant continue for his dependants but not those of a deceased female civil servant. Health insurance for civil servants allows men, but not women, to extend their coverage to dependants or spouses, except for divorced or widowed female civil servants, who may extend coverage to their children. Married women cannot transmit citizenship to their children and may not petition for citizenship for their non-citizen husbands. Their children are considered to be stateless and, if they lack legal residency, are not entitled to the benefits of citizen children, such as education or other government services.

Violence against women remains common, and the occurrence of spousal abuse is acknowledged by medical staff. Cultural norms discourage victims from seeking help. Leniency for honour crimes is noted, though there are signs of a trend to condemn such crimes. Women who might become victims of honour crimes are reported to be imprisoned for their safety. The practice of female genital mutilation appears to be lessening. Sexual harassment is prohibited in law and does not appear to be a widespread problem.

The minimum age for employment is 16. Apprentices may begin work at an earlier age, and this reportedly becomes a loophole for child labour. The labour laws do not apply to children in the informal sector, where agriculture, domestic service and small family businesses account for a large proportion of child labour.

Forced or bonded labour by children is not prohibited in law but reports indicate such practices do not occur. Children working as street vendors were taken off the streets by the Ministry of Social Development and returned to their families or to juvenile detention centres. Families were given a monthly stipend to compensate, but the children often returned to sell on the streets. Reports indicate that the number of children working as street vendors is increasing.

Workers in the private sector, in some state-owned companies and in some professions in the public sector have the right to form and join unions. Only citizens may be union members. Some unions represent the interests of foreign workers on an informal basis. Over 30% of the work force is organised in 17 unions which are members of the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions, the sole trade union federation. Collective bargaining is permitted, and strikes are allowed with government permission.

Forced or compulsory labour is illegal except in a state of emergency. Foreign domestic servants are reported to be subject to abuse and at times work under conditions that amount to forced labour. The national minimum wage is US$121 (85 dinars) a month, and it applies to all workers except domestic servants, small family businesses and agriculture. The minimum wage does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The standard work week is 48 hours.