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Which countries have bicameral legislatures?
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Legislation
Former U.S. president Harry S. Truman (right) looking on as U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Medicare bill at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri, July 30, 1965.
A bicameral system is a form of government in which the legislature consists of two separate houses or chambers. This structure is frequently utilized in federal and quasi-federal governments to facilitate checks and balances and ensure deliberate lawmaking.1
Countries that employ a bicameral legislature include:
- United States12
- Australia1
- Brazil1
- Canada1
- Germany1
- India1
While many nations adopted this model following the English or U.S. examples, the prevalence of bicameralism has seen shifts over time. Following World War II, there was a growing preference for unicameral (single-chamber) systems in many nonfederal states, though many constitutional states continue to maintain two chambers today.1