Bicameralism
In
government,
bicameralism (bi + Latin , chamber) is the practice of having two legislative or
parliamentary chambers. Thus, a
bicameral parliament or
bicameral legislature is a
legislature which consists of two chambers or houses. Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of the
classical notion of
mixed government. Bicameral legislatures tend to require a
concurrent majority to pass legislation.
Although the ideas on which bicameralism is 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
Founding Fathers of the United States eschewed any notion of separate representation for aristocracy, but they accepted the prevailing disposition towards bicameralism. However, 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.
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 constitutent 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.
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 regardinga second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the
Canadian Senate.
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.
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.
Federalism
Some countries, such as
Australia,
Canada, the
United States,
India,
Malaysia,
Brazil,
Switzerland,
Pakistan and
Germany, link their bicameral systems to their
federal political structure.
In the United States, Australia 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.) 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 votes 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. 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.
In the Indian, Pakistani and German systems, the upper houses (the
Rajya Sabha, the
Senate and the
Bundesrat, respectively) are even more closely linked with the federal system, being appointed or elected directly by the governments of each
Indian State,
Pakistani Province or
German Bundesland. (This was also the case in the United States before the
17th Amendment.)
There are also instances of bicameralism in countries that are not federations, but which have upper houses with representation on a terrritorial 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.
Aristocratic bicameralism
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 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. Over the years, there have been proposals to reform the House of Lords, some of which have been at least partly successful — the number of hereditary peers (as opposed to
life peers, appointed by the government) has been reduced to 92 out of around 700, and the ability of the House of Lords to block legislation has been reduced. Further reform of the Lords is planned; said reform would almost certainly include the removal of the remaining hereditary peers.
Another example of aristocratic bicameralism was the
Japanese House of Peers, abolished after
World War II and replaced with the present
House of Councillors.
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. 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 and local councillors, while the Netherlands'
First Chamber is chosen by members of provincial assemblies.
Subnational entities
In some countries with federal systems, individual states (like those of the
United States and
Australia) may also have bicameral legislatures. Only two such states,
Nebraska in the US and
Queensland in Australia, have adopted unicameral systems.
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. It was not until
1836, for example, that
Vermont finally created a Senate.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Bicameralism and 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 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. 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. 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'.
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*
Parliament in
Australia, which consists of
House of Representatives and
Senate; all of the state parliaments except
Queensland's are also bicameral.
* The in
Austria, which consists of the and the ; all of the have unicameral parliaments.
*
Parliament in
Canada, which consists of the
House of Commons and the
Senate; all of the provincial legislatures are
unicameral.
*
Parliament in the
Fifth French Republic which consists of the (National Assembly) and the (Senate)
* the and in
Germany; they form two distinct bodies not framed by a comprehensive institution; all of the have unicameral parliaments.
*
Parliament in
India, which consists of the (House of the People) and the (Council of States); some of the states also have bicameral legislatures namely (Legislative Assembly) and (Legislative Council).
* The
Diet of
Japan is bicameral, consisting of the
House of Representatives (; ) as the lower house and the
House of Councillors (; ) as the upper house.
* The of the
Republic of Ireland which consists of (the House of Representatives) and (the Senate)
*
Parliament in
Malaysia, which consists of the (House of Representatives) and the (Senate); all of the state parliaments are unicameral.
*The
Netherlands States-General, which consists of the (Second Chamber) and the (First Chamber)
*
Parliament in
Pakistan, which consists of the National Assembly and the Senate; all of the provincial assemblies are unicameral.
* In
Spain, the , with the (Congress of Deputies) and the (Senate)
*
Parliament in
South Africa which consists of the
National Assembly and the
National Council of Provinces; all of the provincial legislatures are unicameral.
*The
Federal Assembly in
Switzerland, which consists of the
National Council and the
Council of States; all of the cantons have unicameral parliaments.
*
Parliament in the
United Kingdom which consists of the
House of Commons and the
House of Lords* The
Philippine Congress consists of a
Senate and a
House of Representatives*
Congress in the
United States which consists of the
Senate and the
House of Representatives; all of the state legislatures except
Nebraska's are also bicameral.
*
List of national legislatures*
Lower House*
Upper House*
Unicameralism*
Tricameralism*
Tetracameralism
