Legislature

Legislature

Main article: Legislature

The debating chamber of the European Parliament

Prominent examples of legislatures are the Houses of Parliament in London, the Congress in Washington D.C., the Bundestag in Berlin, the Duma in Moscow and the Assemblée nationale in Paris. By the principle of representative government people vote for politicians to carry out their wishes. Most countries are bicameral, meaning they have two separately appointed legislative houses, although countries like Israel, Greece, Sweden and China are unicameral. In the 'lower house' politicians are elected to represent smaller constituencies. The 'upper house' is usually elected to represent states in a federal system (as in Australia, Germany or the U.S.A.) or different voting configuration in a unitary system (as in France). In the United Kingdom. the upper house is appointed by the government as a house of review. One criticism of bicameral systems with two elected chambers is that the upper and lower houses may simply mirror one another. The traditional justification of bicameralism is that it minimises arbitrariness and injustice in governmental action.^[110]

To pass legislation, a majority of Members of Parliament must vote for a bill in each house. Normally there will be several readings and amendments proposed by the different political factions. If a country has an entrenched constitution, a special majority for changes to the constitution will be required, making changes to the law more difficult. A government usually leads the process, which can be formed from Members of Parliament (e.g. the U.K. or Germany). But in a presidential system, an executive appoints a cabinet to govern from his or her political allies whether or not they are elected (e.g. the U.S.A. or Brazil), and the legislature's role is reduced to either ratification or veto