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This article is about bicameralism in government. For the psychological theory, see Bicameralism (psychology). In Psychology, bicameralism is a controversial hypothesis which argues that the human Brain once assumed a state known as a bicameral mind in which
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In government, bicameralism (bi + Latin camera, chamber) is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation This is a list of legislatures by country, whether parliamentary or congressional, that act as a plenary general assembly of representatives TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A  parliament is a Legislature, especially in those A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Parliamentary group and parliamentary party are terms used to refer to the representation of a Political party or Electoral fusion of parties in a The leader or chairperson of a Parliamentary group holds an influential political post in a parliamentary system with strong Party discipline A congress is a formal meeting of representatives from different countries (or by extension Constituent States, or independent organisations (such as different Trade A Member of Congress is a Politician who is a member of a Congress. Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or Parliamentary chamber In contrast to Unicameralism, Multicameralism or 'polycameralism' is the condition of having multiple legislative branches of Government. Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or Parliamentary chambers Many Parliaments or other Legislatures consist of two chambers (or houses) an elected Lower house, and an Upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house. A senate is a Deliberative body, often the Upper house or chamber of a Legislature or Parliament. A lower house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Upper house. A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which A city council is a form of Local government, usually covering a City or other Urban area, such as a Town. A councillor or councilor ( Cllr, Coun, Clr or Cr for short is a member of a Local government council such as a For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. Many Parliaments or other Legislatures consist of two chambers (or houses) an elected Lower house, and an Upper house Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of the classical notion of mixed government. Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean Mixed government, also known as a mixed constitution, is a form of government that integrated facets of government by Democracy, Oligarchy, and Monarchy Bicameral legislatures tend to require a concurrent majority to pass legislation. Concurrent majority refers in general to the concept of preventing majorities from oppressing minorities by allowing various minority groups veto power over laws

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Theory of bicameral congress

Although the ideas on which bicameralism are based can be traced back to the theories developed in Ancient Sumer and later ancient Greece, ancient India, and Rome, recognizable bicameral institutions first arose in medieval Europe where they were associated with separate representation of different estates of the realm. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the Partition of British India in 1947 Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC For example, one house would represent the aristocracy, and the other would represent the commoners.

The Founding Fathers of the United States eschewed a formal aristocracy, but favored a bicameral legislature. The Founding Fathers of the United States are the Political leaders who signed the Declaration of Independence or otherwise participated in the As part of the Great Compromise between large states and small states, they invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the upper house would have states represented equally, and the lower house would have them represented by population. The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, was an essential agreement between large and small states reached during the Philadelphia Convention

The bicameral legislature of the United States is housed in a capitol building with two wings. The north wing houses the Senate while the south wing houses the House of Representatives.
The bicameral legislature of the United States is housed in a capitol building with two wings. The north wing houses the Senate while the south wing houses the House of Representatives. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate.

In subsequent constitution making, federal states have often adopted bicameralism, and the solution remains popular when regional differences or sensitivities require more explicit representation, with the second chamber representing the constituent states. Nevertheless, the older justification for second chambers — providing opportunities for second thoughts about legislation — has survived. A trend towards unicameralism in the 20th century appears now to have been halted. Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or Parliamentary chamber

Growing awareness of the complexity of the notion of representation and the multifunctional nature of modern legislatures may be affording incipient new rationales for second chambers, though these do generally remain contested institutions in ways that first chambers are not. An example of political controversy regarding a second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the Canadian Senate. The Senate of Canada (Le Sénat du Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the sovereign (represented by the governor general

The relationship between the two chambers varies; in some cases, they have equal power, while in others, one chamber is clearly superior in its powers. The first tends to be the case in federal systems and those with presidential governments. The latter tends to be the case in unitary states with parliamentary systems. A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which

Some political scientists believe that bicameralism makes meaningful political reforms more difficult to achieve and increases the risk of deadlock (particularly in cases where both chambers have similar powers). Others argue strongly for the merits of the 'checks and balances' provided by the bicameral model, which they believe helps prevent the passage into law of ill-considered legislation. Separation of powers, a term ascribed to French Enlightenment Political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, is a model for the Governance

Types

Federalism

Some countries, such as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States link their bicameral systems to their federal political structure. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A federation ( Latin: foedus, covenant is a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central ("federal"

In the United States, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, for example, each state is given the same number of seats in the legislature's upper house. This takes no account of population differences between states — it is designed to ensure that smaller states are not overshadowed by more populous ones. (In the United States, the deal that ensured this arrangement is known as the Connecticut Compromise. The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, was an essential agreement between large and small states reached during the Philadelphia Convention ) In the lower houses of each country, these provisions do not apply, and seats are allocated based purely on population. The bicameral system, therefore, is a method of combining the principle of democratic equality with the principle of federalism — all citizens are equal in the lower houses, while all states are equal in the upper houses.

In Canada, the country as a whole is divided into a number of Senate Divisions, each with a different number of Senators, based on a number of factors. Representation in the Canadian Senate is divided into seats on a provincial basis These Divisions are Quebec, Ontario, Western Provinces, and the Maritimes, each with 24 Senators, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, each with 1 Senator, and Newfoundland and Labrador has 6 Senators, making for a total of 105 Senators. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Western Canada, commonly referred to as the West, is a region of Canada normally including all parts of Canada west of the province The Maritime provinces, called the Maritimes in local English (or the Canadian Maritimes by non-Canadians is a region of Eastern Canada Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. The Northwest Territories (ˌnɔrθˌwɛstˈtɛrɨtɔriz ( NWT or NT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory Nunavut (ˈnuːnəvʊt ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᓄᓇᕗᑦ is the largest and newest territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Newfoundland and Labrador (ˈnuːfɨn(dlənd ən(d ˈlæbrəˌdɔr (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador is a province of Canada, the tenth and latest to join the Confederation

In the German, Indian, and Pakistani systems, the upper houses (the Bundesrat, the Rajya Sabha, and the Pakistani Senate respectively) are even more closely linked with the federal system, being appointed or elected directly by the governments of each German Bundesland, Indian State, or Pakistani Province. The Bundesrat ("federal council" or "upper house of German parliament" is the representation of the 16 Federal States ( Bundesländer) of The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Council of States" is the Upper house of the Parliament of India. The Senate of Pakistan is the Upper house of the Bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. Germany (Deutschland is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen States, known in German as Länder (singular India is a union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. Currently the internationally recognized territory of Pakistan is subdivided into four provinces and two territories (This was also the case in the United States before the 17th Amendment. The Seventeenth Amendment ( Amendment XVII) of the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate on June 12 1911 and by the House on May 13 1912 )

There are also instances of bicameralism in countries that are not federations, but which have upper houses with representation on a territorial basis. For example in South Africa, the National Council of Provinces (and before 1997, the Senate) has its members chosen by each Province's legislature. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The National Council of Provinces ( NCOP) is the Upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post- Apartheid) constitution Senate was the Upper house of the Parliament of South Africa between 1910 and 1981 and between 1994 and 1997 South Africa is currently divided into nine provinces On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated

In Spain the Spanish Senate functions as a de facto territorial-based upper house, and there has been some pressure from the Autonomous Communities to reform it into a strictly territorial chamber. The Spanish Senate ( Senado de España in Spanish) is the upper house of Spain 's Parliament, the Cortes Generales. An autonomous community is a first-level political division of the Kingdom of Spain, established in accordance with the Spanish Constitution.

The European Union maintains a bicameral legislative system which consists of the European Parliament, which is elected in general elections on the basis of universal suffrage, and the Council of the European Union which consists of members of the governments of the Member States which are competent for the relevant field of legislation. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The European Parliament ( Europarl or EP) is the only directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU The Council of the European Union is the principal decision making institution in the European Union (EU Although the European Union is not considered a state, it enjoys the power to legislate in many areas of politics; in some areas, those powers are even exclusively reserved to it.

Aristocratic

In a few countries, bicameralism involves the juxtaposition of democratic and aristocratic elements.

The best known example is the British House of Lords, which includes a number of hereditary peers. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. The House of Lords represents a vestige of the aristocratic system which once predominated in British politics, while the other house, the House of Commons, is entirely elected. The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords Over the years, there have been proposals to reform the House of Lords, some of which have been at least partly successful — the House of Lords Act 1999 limited the number of hereditary peers (as opposed to life peers, appointed by the government) to 92, down from around 700. The House of Lords Act 1999 (1999 c 34 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999 In the United Kingdom, life peers are created members of the Peerage whose titles may not be inherited (those whose titles are inheritable are known as Hereditary The ability of the House of Lords to block legislation is curtailed by the Parliament Act. The Parliament Acts are two Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1911 and 1949 that form part of the Constitution of the United Further reform of the Lords is planned.

Another example of aristocratic bicameralism was the Japanese House of Peers, abolished after World War II and replaced with the present House of Councillors. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. This article is about the Japanese body The British House of Lords is also known as the House of Peers for certain ceremonial purposes. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The is the Upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the Lower house.

Unitary states

Many bicameral systems are not connected with either federalism or an aristocracy, however. Japan, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Ireland and Romania are examples of bicameral systems existing in unitary states. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania A unitary state is a State whose three Organs of state are governed Constitutionally as one single unit with one Constitutionally created In countries such as these, the upper house generally exists solely for the purpose of scrutinising and possibly vetoing the decisions of the lower house.

In some of these countries, the upper house is indirectly elected. Members of France's Senate, Ireland's Seanad Éireann are chosen by electoral colleges consisting of members of the lower house, local councillors, the Taoiseach, and graduates of selected universities, while the Netherlands' First Chamber is chosen by members of provincial assemblies. The Senate (Sénat is the Upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president. Seanad Éireann (ɕan̪ˠad̪ˠ erʲan̪ˠ English Senate of Ireland) also known unofficially as the Senate, is the Upper house of the Oireachtas An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular Office. The Taoiseach (ˈtiːʃəx in English t̪ˠiːʃʲəx (plural Taoisigh ( or) in Irish) also referred to as An Taoiseach ( t̪ˠiːʃʲəx is the the The Eerste Kamer ( First Chamber) is the Upper House or Senate of the Netherlands parliament the States-General

Subnational entities

In some countries with federal systems, individual states (like those of the United States and Australia) may also have bicameral legislatures. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Commonwealth of Australia is made up of 8 states and territories controlled under a federal system of government Only two such states, Nebraska in the US and Queensland in Australia, have adopted unicameral systems. Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent

However, in early United States history, unicameral state legislatures were not totally uncommon: even though twelve of the original thirteen States (Pennsylvania being the only exception) had a bicameral legislature at the time of the Philadelphia Convention, some of the new States didn't immediately adopt such system. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In the United States of America, a state legislature is a generic term referring to the legislative body of any of the country's 50 states. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern The Philadelphia Convention (now also known as the Constitutional Convention, the Federal Convention, or the " Grand Convention at Philadelphia It was not until 1836, for example, that Vermont finally created a Senate. Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America.

During the 1930s, the Legislature of the State of Nebraska was reduced from bicameral to unicameral with the 43 members that once comprised that state's Senate. In Government, bicameralism (bi + Latin la ''camera'' chamber is the practice of having two legislative or Parliamentary chambers Thus a bicameral One of the arguments used to sell the idea at the time to Nebraska voters was that by adopting a unicameral system, the perceived evils of the "conference committee" process would be eliminated. In the United States, a Conference committee is a committee of the Legislature Appointed by both chambers of the United States

A conference committee is appointed when the two chambers cannot agree on the same wording of a proposal, and consists of a small number of legislators from each chamber. This tends to place much power in the hands of only a small number of legislators. Whatever legislation, if any, the conference committee finalizes must then be approved in an unamendable "take-it-or-leave-it" manner by both chambers.

During his term as Governor of the State of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesotan legislature to a single chamber with proportional representation, as a reform that he felt would solve many legislative difficulties and impinge upon legislative corruption. A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Jesse Ventura (born July 15, 1951 as James George Janos) also known as "The Body", "The Star", and "The Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes In his book on political issues, Do I Stand Alone?, Ventura argued that bicameral legislatures for provincial and local areas were excessive and unnecessary, and discussed unicameralism as a reform that could address many legislative and budgetary problems for states.

In Australian states the lower house was traditionally elected based on the one-vote-one-value principle, whereas the upper house was partially appointed and elected, with a bias towards country voters. In Queensland, the appointed upper house was abolished in 1922, while New South Wales there were similar attempts at abolition, before the upper house was reformed in the 1970s to provide for direct election. The Queensland Legislative Council was the Upper house of the Parliament in the Australian state of Queensland, until its abolition by the The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. Nowadays, the upper house is elected using proportional voting and the lower house through preferential voting, except in Tasmania, where proportional voting is used for the lower house, and preferential voting for the upper house. Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name It is located south of the eastern side of the Continent, being separated from it by Bass

Arab political reform

A 2005 report on democratic reform in the Arab world by the US Council on Foreign Relations co-sponsored by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright urged Arab states to adopt bicameralism, with upper chambers appointed on a 'specialised basis'. The Council on Foreign Relations ( CFR) is an American Nonpartisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921 and based at 58 East 68th Street (at Madeleine Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová on May 15, 1937) was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State. The Council claimed that this would protect against the 'tyranny of the majority', expressing concerns that without a system of checks and balances extremists would use the single chamber parliaments to restrict the rights of minority groups.

In 2002, Bahrain adopted a bicameral system with an elected lower chamber and an appointed upper house. The Kingdom of Bahrain (in مملكة البحرين,, literally Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an Island country in the Persian Gulf This led to a boycott of parliamentary elections that year by the Al Wefaq party, who said that the government would use the upper house to veto their plans. 2006 elections Bahraini parliamentary election 2006 Al Wefaq announced that it would reverse its elections boycott and participate in the 2006 parliamentary election Many secular critics of bicameralism were won round to its benefits in 2005, after many MPs in the lower house voted for the introduction of so-called morality police. The Mutaween (مطوعين muṭawiʿiyn; variant English spellings mutawwain muttawa mutawallees mutawa’ah mutawi’ mutawwa' means "volunteer" in Arabic

Examples

     Nations with bicameral legislatures.     Nations with unicameral legislatures.     No legislature.
     Nations with bicameral legislatures.      Nations with unicameral legislatures.      No legislature.

See also

This is a list of legislatures by country, whether parliamentary or congressional, that act as a plenary general assembly of representatives A lower house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Upper house. An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house. Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or Parliamentary chamber Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or Parliamentary chambers Tetracameralism (Greek tetra, four + Latin camera, chamber is the practice of having four legislative or parliamentary chambers

Dictionary

bicameralism

-noun

  1. The principle of dividing legislative bodies into two groups with complementary powers and limitations designed to provide checks and balances against one another.
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