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A legislature is an assembly with the
authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
to make laws for a political entity such as a country or
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. 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 Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
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 Ecclesia (Greek: ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') may refer to: Organizations * Ecclesia (ancient Greece) or Ekklēsia, the principal assembly of ancient Greece during its Golden Age * Ecclesia (Sparta), the citizens' assembly of Sparta, often w ...
.'' 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 Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
and those in
presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...
s of the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
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 budget A government budget is a document prepared by the government and/or other political entity presenting its anticipated tax revenues (Inheritance tax, income tax, corporation tax, import taxes) and proposed spending/expenditure (Healthcare, Educa ...
s 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 Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **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 to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a certain number of legislators present to carry out these activities; this is called a
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are usually delegated to committees made up of a few of the members of the . The members of a legislature usually represent different
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
; the members from each party generally meet as a
caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...
to organize their internal affairs.


Relation to other branches of government

Legislatures vary widely in the amount of political power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries, and executives. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a
Parliamentary powers index A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures. The German Bundestag, the Italian Parliament, and the Mongolian
State Great Khural The State Great Khural, ; "State Great Assembly" is the unicameral parliament of Mongolia.Montsame News Agency. ''Mongolia''. 2006, Foreign Service office of Montsame News Agency, , p. 40 It is located in the Government Palace. History ;1 ...
tied for most powerful, while Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's Transitional Federal Assembly (since replaced by the
Federal Parliament of Somalia The Federal Parliament of Somalia ( so, Golaha Shacabka Soomaaliya; often ''Baarlamaanka Federaalka Soomaaliya''; ar, البرلمان الاتحادي في الصومال) is the national parliament of Somalia. Formed in August 2012, it is ba ...
) tied for least powerful. Some political systems follows the principle of legislative supremacy, which holds that the legislature is the supreme branch of government and cannot be bound by other institutions, such as the judicial branch or a written constitution. Such a system renders the legislature more powerful. In parliamentary and semi-presidential systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature, which may remove it with a vote of no confidence. On the other hand, according to the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature in a
presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...
is considered an independent and coequal branch of government along with both the judiciary and the executive. Nevertheless, many presidential systems provide for the
impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
of the executive for criminal or unconstitutional behaviour. Legislatures will sometimes delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies.


Members

Legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. A legislature usually contains a fixed number of legislators; because legislatures usually meet in a specific room filled with seats for the legislators, this is often described as the number of "seats" it contains. For example, a legislature that has 100 "seats" has 100 members. By extension, an
electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
that elects a single legislator can also be described as a "seat", as, for example, in the phrases "
safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...
" and " marginal seat". After election, the members may be protected by
parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...
or
parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...
, either for all actions the duration of their entire term, or for just those related to their legislative duties.


Chambers

A legislature may debate and vote upon bills as a single unit, or it may be composed of multiple separate assemblies, called by various names including ''legislative chambers'', ''debate chambers'', and ''houses'', which debate and vote separately and have distinct powers. A legislature which operates as a single unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is
bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is usually considered the upper house, while the other is considered the
lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...
. The two types are not rigidly different, but members of upper houses tend to be indirectly elected or appointed rather than directly elected, tend to be allocated by administrative divisions rather than by population, and tend to have longer terms than members of the lower house. In some systems, particularly parliamentary systems, the upper house has less power and tends to have a more advisory role, but in others, particularly federal
presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...
s, the upper house has equal or even greater power. In federations, the upper house typically represents the federation's component states. This is also the case with the supranational legislature of the European Union. The upper house may either contain the delegates of state governmentsas in the European Union and in Germany and, before 1913, in the United Statesor be elected according to a formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations, as is the case in Australia and the United States since 1913. Tricameral legislatures are rare; the Massachusetts Governor's Council still exists, but the most recent national example existed in the waning years of White-minority rule in South Africa.
Tetracameral In contrast to unicameralism, and bicameralism, multicameralism is the condition in which a legislature is divided into more than two deliberative assemblies, which are commonly called "chambers" or "houses". This usually includes tricamerali ...
legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. The only legislature with a number of chambers bigger than four was the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia; initially established as a Pentacameral body in 1963, it was turned into a hexacameral body in 1967.


Size

Legislatures vary widely in their size. Among national legislatures, China's National People's Congress is the largest with 2,980 members, while Vatican City's Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7. Neither legislature is democratically elected: The Pontifical Commission members are appointed by the Pope and the National People's Congress is indirectly elected within the context of a one-party state. Legislature size is a trade off between efficiency and representation; the smaller the legislature, the more efficiently it can operate, but the larger the legislature, the better it can represent the political diversity of its constituents. Comparative analysis of national legislatures has found that size of a country's
lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...
tends to be proportional to the
cube root In mathematics, a cube root of a number is a number such that . All nonzero real numbers, have exactly one real cube root and a pair of complex conjugate cube roots, and all nonzero complex numbers have three distinct complex cube roots. Fo ...
of its population; that is, the size of the lower house tends to increase along with population, but much more slowly.


See also

* List of legislative buildings *
Election apportionment diagram An election apportionment diagram is the graphic representation of election results and the seats in a plenary or legislative body. The chart can also be used to represent data in easy to understand terms, for example by grouping allied parties ...
*
Evidence-based legislation Evidence-based legislation (EBL) is a legislative concept which calls for the use of the best available scientific evidence and systematically collected data, when available, by legislatures as a basis for their formulation and writing of law. Evi ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * {{Portal bar, Law, Politics Separation of powers