- Also called:
- bicameralism
- Related Topics:
- legislature
bicameral system
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What is a bicameral system in government?
A bicameral system is a governmental structure where the legislature has two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses. Bicameralism dates back to 17th-century England and the 18th century in Europe and the U.S..
The U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787 established a bicameral national legislature to preserve the identity of individual states, protect smaller states' influence, and safeguard property interests.
Bicameral systems are common in federal governments like those of the United States, Australia, Brazil, and Canada, as well as in quasi-federal governments like Germany and India. The dualism of bicameral systems is seen as a way to provide checks and balances, prevent hasty or harsh legislation, limit democracy, and ensure careful deliberation.
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How is a bicameral system different from a unicameral system?
A bicameral system has two legislative houses, while a unicameral system has only one. The bicameral system is rooted in 17th-century England and the 18th-century continent of Europe and the United States.
The dualism in a bicameral system intends to apply checks and balances, preventing hasty legislation, limiting democracy, and securing deliberation. After World War II, constitutional trends showed a preference for unicameral systems in nonfederal states, with unicameral national legislative bodies established in many European and Latin American countries.
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What are the two houses usually called in a bicameral legislature?
In a bicameral system, the legislature is divided into two houses. These are commonly referred to as the upper and lower houses.
The upper house is often called the Senate. The lower house can have different names, such as the House of Representatives, House of Delegates, or General Assembly. For example, India's upper house is called the Rajya Sabha, while the lower house is called the Lok Sabha. In Canada, the two houses are the House of Commons and the Senate.
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Why do some countries use a bicameral system?
A bicameral system is a government structure where the legislature has two houses or chambers. The modern bicameral system dates back to 17th-century England and the 18th century in continental Europe and the United States.
Bicameral systems are often found in federal governments like those of the United States, Australia, Brazil, and Canada, as well as in quasi-federal governments such as Germany and India. The decision to have two chambers is often rooted in the desire to represent different interests, such as the nobility and common people, or to balance the influence of larger and smaller states. The dualism inherent in bicameral systems is seen as an application of checks and balances, which can prevent hasty legislation, limit democracy, and ensure careful deliberation.
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How does law-making work in a bicameral legislature?
In a bicameral system, law-making involves two separate legislative chambers or houses. Proposed laws are debated and voted on in both the lower and upper houses. To pass, a bill must be approved in identical form by both houses.
This dualism acts as a check and balance, which is meant to avert hasty legislation, limit democracy, and secure deliberation. Bicameral legislatures are common in federal governments like those of the United States, Australia, Brazil, and Canada.
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What is an example of a country with a bicameral system, and how do its two houses function?
A bicameral system is a government where the legislature has two houses. Canada is an example of a country with a bicameral system. Its legislature consists of the House of Commons and the Senate.
The House of Commons is the Lower House, and the Senate is the Upper House. Proposed laws are debated and voted on in both chambers. For a bill to pass into law, both houses must adopt it in identical form before it can receive Royal Assent.
The Senate has 105 members (senators) who are appointed and hold their seats until age 75. The Senate's role is to revise legislation, consider and investigate national issues, and ensure that Canada's regions have an equal voice in Parliament.
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bicameral system, a system of government in which the legislature comprises two houses. The modern bicameral system dates back to the beginnings of constitutional government in 17th-century England and to the later 18th century on the continent of Europe and in the United States.
History and development
The English Parliament became bicameral in recognition of the distinction between the nobility and clergy and the common people. When the British colonies were established in America, the colonial assemblies were likewise bicameral because there were two interests to be represented: the mother country, by the governor in council, and the colonists, by their chosen deputies. After the Declaration of Independence in 1776, bicameral systems were established in all the states but Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. In those three states, single-chamber legislatures were set up, but they were replaced by bicameral legislatures in 1789, 1790, and 1830, respectively. All the new states subsequently admitted into the union entered with two-house legislatures.
Although the Continental Congresses and the Congress of the Confederation had been unicameral, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 decided that the new national legislature should consist of two branches in order to preserve the identity of the separate states, safeguard the influence of the smaller states, and protect the interests of property.
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With the extension of constitutional government throughout the world, most countries set up bicameral legislatures on the English or U.S. models, with large first chambers chosen by popular vote and smaller second chambers whose members were either elected or appointed (or, in some cases, determined by inheritance) and often represented political subdivisions, such as the Swiss cantons. The bicameral plan is usually found in federal governments, such as those of the United States, Australia, Brazil, and Canada, and in quasi-federal governments, such as those of Germany and India.
Bicameral systems versus unicameral systems
Theoretically, this dualism in the bicameral system is justified as an application of the principle of checks and balances. A bicameral system is desirable, it has been argued, to avoid hasty and harsh legislation, limit democracy, and secure deliberation. Although the bicameral system remained prevalent in the 20th century, there were reactions against it. Unicameral councils or commissions came to predominate in American cities, which had often been organized along bicameral patterns in the 19th century. Widespread dissatisfaction with American state legislatures led to numerous proposals for a single-chamber system during the second decade of the 20th century, but the adoption in 1934 of a unicameral legislature by Nebraska (effective from 1937) marked the only departure from the bicameral system among the U.S. states.
Constitutional trends after World War II reflected a growing preference for the unicameral system in nonfederal states of the world. Unicameral national legislative bodies were set up in many European countries and several Latin American ones.
In Britain, where the House of Lords had been weakened, and in France, where the Council of the Republic (renamed the Senate in 1958 on the foundation of the Fifth Republic) was practically impotent, the governments operated, in effect, on the unicameral principle. A unitary system of government does not imply a unicameral legislature. Modern constitutional states often retain two chambers even though bicameralism has declined.
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