legislative

A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.

Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as primary legislation. In addition, legislatures may observe and steer governing actions, with authority to amend the budget involved.

The members of a legislature are called legislators. In a democracy, legislators are most commonly popularly elected, although indirect election and appointment by the executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legislatures featuring an upper chamber.

Terminology

The name used to refer to a legislative body varies by country.

Common names include:

* Assembly (from ''to assemble'')
* Congress (from ''to congregate'')
* Council (from Latin 'meeting')
* Diet (from old German 'people')
* Estates or States (from old French 'condition' or 'status')
* Parliament (from French ''parler'' 'to speak')

By names:
*House of Assembly
*House of Chiefs
* Legislative assembly
* Legislative council
*National Assembly

By languages:
* Cortes (from Spanish 'courts')
* Duma (from Russian ''dúma'' 'thought')
* Knesset (from Hebrew 'gathering' or 'assembly')
* Rada (from Ukrainian 'council')
* Sejm (from Polish 'gathering')
* Soviet (from Russian 'council')
* Thing (from old Germanic 'assembly')
* Veche (from old Slavic 'council')

Though the specific roles for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve the same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate legislation for the country.

History

Among the earliest recognised legislatures was the Athenian ''Ecclesia.'' In the Middle Ages, European monarchs would host assemblies of the nobility, which would later develop into predecessors of modern legislatures. These were often named The Estates. The oldest surviving legislature is the Icelandic Althing, founded in 930 CE.

Functions

Democratic legislatures have six major functions: representation, deliberation, legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight.

Representation

There exist five ways that representation can be achieved in a legislature:

* Formalistically: how the rules of the legislature ensure representation of constituents;
* Symbolically: how the constituents perceive their representatives;
* Descriptively: how well the composition of the legislature matches the demographics of the wider society;
* Substantively: how well representatives actually respond to the needs of their constituents;
* Collectively: how well the representatives represent the interests of the society as a whole.

Deliberation

One of the major functions of a legislature is to discuss and debate issues of major importance to society. This activity can take place in two forms. In debating legislatures, such as the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the floor of the legislature frequently sees lively debate. In contrast, in committee-based legislatures like the United States Congress, deliberation takes place in closed committees.

Legislation

While legislatures have nominally the sole power to create laws, the substantive extent of this power depends on details of the political system. In Westminster-style legislatures the executive (composed of the cabinet) can essentially pass any laws it wants, as it usually has a majority of legislators behind it, kept in check by the party whip, while committee-based legislatures in continental Europe and those in presidential systems of the Americas have more independence in drafting and amending bills.

Authorizing expenditure

The origins of the power of the purse which legislatures typically have in passing or denying government budgets goes back to the European assemblies of nobility which the monarchs would have to consult before raising taxes. For this power to be actually effective, the legislature should be able to amend the budget, have an effective committee system, enough time for consideration, as well as access to relevant background information.

Making governments

The power of the legislature over the government is stronger.

Oversight

There are several ways in which the legislature can hold the government accountable, including questioning, interpellations, and votes of confidence.

Function in authoritarian regimes

In contrast to democratic systems, legislatures under authoritarianism are used to ensure the stability of the power structure by co-opting potential competing interests within the elites, which they achieve (cap) by:

* Providing legitimacy;
* Incorporating opponents into the system;
* Providing some representation of outside interests;
* Offering a way to recruit new members to the ruling clique;
* Being a channel through which limited grievances and concessions can be passed.

Internal organization

Each chamber of the legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure