Bicameralism
In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a parliament or legislature which consists of two Chambers or Houses.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. It is also commonplace in most federal systems to have a bicameral legislature, with the second chamber representing the constitutent states, such as the United States Senate
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 are powerful). 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.
Examples
Examples include:
- Parliament
in the United
Kingdom which consists of the House
of Commons and the House
of Lords
- 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.
- Parliament
in Canada, which consists
of the House
of Commons and the Senate
- Parliament
in Australia, which
consists of House
of Representatives and Senate;
all of the state parliaments except Queensland's
are also bicameral.
- Oireachtas Éireann in the Republic
of Ireland which consists of Dáil
Éireann (the House of Representatives) and Seanad
Éireann (the Senate)
- Parliament
in India, which consists of
the Lok Sabha (House
of the People) and the Rajya
Sabha (Council of States).
- Parliament
in the Fifth French Republic
which consists of the National
Assembly and the Senate