Unicameralism
Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or
parliamentary chamber. Many countries with unicameral
legislatures are often small and homogeneous unitary states and consider an
upper house or second chamber unnecessary.
A view in favor of unicameral legislatures is that if an upper house is democratic, it simply mirrors the equally democratic lower house, and is therefore duplicative. A theory in favor of this view is that the functions of a second chamber, such as reviewing or revising legislation, can be performed by parliamentary committees, while further constitutional safeguards can be provided by a written
Constitution.
In many instances, the governments that now have unicameral legislatures were once bicameral and subsequently eliminated the upper chamber. One reason for such a change is because an elected upper house has overlapped the
lower house and obstructed passage of legislation, an example being the case of the
Landsting in
Denmark (abolished in
1953). Another reason is because an appointed chamber has proven ineffectual, one example being the case of the
Legislative Council in
New Zealand (abolished in
1951).
Other nations, such as the
United Kingdom and
Canada, have technically
bicameral systems that function much as unicameral systems, because one house is largely ceremonial and retains few powers. Thus, in the
United Kingdom, control of the
House of Commons determines control of the
government, and the unelected
House of Lords has the power only to delay legislation and to recommend amendments.
Supporters of unicameralism note the need to control government spending and the elimination of redundant work done by both chambers. Critics of unicameralism point out the double checks and balances that a bicameral system affords, forcing a greater level of consensus on legislative issues. Another disadvantage of unicameralism is that urban areas with large populations have more influence than sparsely populated rural ones. In many cases the only way to get sparsely populated regions on board a unified government is to implement a bicameral system (such as the early United States).
Some of the
subnational entities with unicameral legislatures include
Nebraska and
the Virgin Islands in the
United States, the
Australian state of
Queensland, all of the
provinces and territories in
Canada, all of the
German Bundesländer (
Bavaria having abolished its
Senate in
1999), and all of the
Italian Regioni.
In the
United Kingdom, the devolved
Scottish Parliament,
National Assembly for Wales and
Northern Ireland Assembly are also unicameral.
Virtually all city legislatures are also unicameral in the sense that the
city councils are not divided into two chambers. Until the turn of the 20th century, bicameral city councils were common in the United States.
The American Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico currently has a bicameral legislature comprising a Senate (Senado) and a House of Representatives (Camara de Representantes). In a referendum held on July 10, 2005, Puerto Rican voters approved the change to a unicameral legislature by 456,267 votes in favor versus 88,720 against. However, another referendum will be held in that commonwealth during 2007 to approve the specific amendments to the Puerto Rican Constitution that are required for the change. If those constitutional changes are likewise approved, Puerto Rico will switch to a unicameral legislature from
2009.
Within the individual United States, bicameralisim was usually modeled upon that of the United States Federal Government, with the upper house, in analogy to the states, consisting of State Senators who represented geographic areas independent of their population, typically counties.
In
1964, a
US Supreme Court decision (
Reynolds v. Sims, often called "one person, one vote"), voided this arrangement as applied to states. In response to this most states have replaced the fixed geographic boundaries with more flexible
State Senatoral Districts, an analog of districts apportioned (by equal population) to the lower house (in California, the
State Assembly Districts). In such cases the term of office for the upper house will usually be longer and the number of seats less than that of the lower house. Like the districts of the lower house they are now subject to the process of
Gerrymandering, with boundaries manipulated to favor incumbants of both parties (as in
California), or to favor the majority party (as in
Texas). Since the upper house of a state legislature offers a path of upward mobility to members of the lower house,
bicameralism is highly favored by the legislative members, particulary when
term limits are enforced. Its actual need, however, has become highly questionable in terms of both the legislative process and of representative government. The long term evolution of political thought within the states of the United States would appear to favor unicameralism but at present there is substantial indifference to reform by most of the electorate and great resistance to change by politically powerful interests.
In
1999, Governor
Jesse Ventura said that
Minnesota should adopt a uncameral system. Though debated, the idea was never approved. A group of Michigan citizens wants the state's voters to "
Fire the Senate" by passing a measure on the
November 7 ballot that would make that state's 110-member
House of Representatives the only chamber of the legislature. It is unclear whether the initiative will receive enough petition signatures to make it to the November ballot.
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*
National People's Congress in the
People's Republic of China*
Legislative Yuan of the
Republic of China (Taiwan)
*
Croatian
Sabor*
National Assembly of People's Power of
Cuba*The
Folketing of
Denmark*
Parlamento Nacional of
East Timor*The
Eduskunta of
Finland*The
Vouli ton Ellinon of
Greece*The
Legislative Council of
Hong Kong (divide into two chambers for private members' bills)
*The
Althing of
IcelandKnesset of
Israel*
National Assembly of Iraq*The
Landtag of
LiechtensteinThe National Assembly of
Mauritius*
New Zealand Parliament*The
Storting of
Norway (may divide into two chambers for some purposes)
*
Assembly of the Republic of
PortugalAssemblée Nationale of
SeychellesGukhoe of
South Korea*
Parliament of
Singapore*
National Congress of
Honduras*Parliament of
Sri Lanka*The
Riksdag of
Sweden (since 1971)
*
Turkey's
Grand National Assembly of TurkeyAsamblea Nacional of
Venezuela*
Scottish Parliament*The Parliaments of Spanish
Autonomous Communities*The
Nebraska State Legislature*Colonial legislatures of
Pennsylvania and
Georgia*
Vermont General Assembly until 1836
*
Parliament of Scotland until 1707
*All
German state parliaments
*
Bicameralism*
Tricameralism*
Tetracameralism*
List of national legislatures
