The Government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa functions under the provision of the Constitution of Pakistan (1973).

The Province has a Provincial Assembly with 124 elected members, constituent of 99 Regular seats, 22 seats reserved for Women and 3 seats for Non-Muslims. The Provincial Assembly elects the Chief Minister of the Province who forms a Cabinet of Ministers to look after various Departments. The Chief Minister is the Chief Executive of the Province. The Federal Government appoints a Governor as head of the Provincial Government.

The bureaucratic machinery of the province is headed by a Chief Secretary who coordinates and supervises functions of various Departments headed by Departmental Secretaries. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the Planning & Development Department the incharge is the Additional Chief Secretary who reports to the Chief Secretary. All the Secretaries are assisted by Additional Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Section Officers and other staff. The Departments may have attached Departments and autonomous or semi-autonomous bodies to look after various functions.

The Province is divided into 35 districts.