Legislature

A legislature (UK: /ˈlɛdʒɪslətʃər/, US: /-ˌleɪtʃər/) is a deliberative assembly that has the legal authority to make law and watch over politics in a political entity like a state, nation, or city. Legislatures are important parts of how countries and governments work. They are usually different from the groups that run the government every day (the executive) or decide court cases (judicial institutions).

The Hungarian Parliament Building, or 'Országház', in Budapest

Legislatures can be at many levels, like national, regional, or city levels, such as the European Parliament. The laws they make are often called primary legislation. They also watch how money is spent and represent the people they serve.

Members of a legislature are called legislators. They may be chosen by voting, selected in other ways, or even appointed. Legislatures can have one group, two groups, or more, depending on the country's setup. There are different kinds of legislatures, like parliaments, congresses, and supreme state organs, each working in their own way based on the country’s rules and ideas about power.

Types of legislatures

There are different kinds of legislatures, depending on the type of government. In some countries, called liberal democratic systems, there are two main types: parliaments and congresses.

Parliaments are found in countries where the government and the legislature work closely together. In these places, the leader of the government and other leaders are chosen from the members of the parliament. The government must follow what the parliament decides.

Congresses are found in countries where the government and the legislature are kept separate. Here, the leader of the country, called the president, is chosen in a different election from the members of the legislature.

Some countries have a different system called supreme state organs of power, used in communist states. In these places, one main body holds most of the power and makes and enforces laws. Other parts of the government follow its decisions.

Terminology

Different countries use many names for their legislative bodies. Some common names are:

Other special names include:

Names in other languages are:

All legislatures help choose leaders to make good laws for their country.

History

One of the earliest groups that made laws was the Athenian Ecclesia. During the Middle Ages, kings in Europe would meet with important people. These meetings became like the law-making groups we have today. The oldest group that still exists is the Icelandic Althing, which started in 930 CE.

Functions

Democratic legislatures have six main jobs: representing people, discussing important issues, making laws, approving spending, forming governments, and watching over the government.

Legislatures represent people by following rules and matching the makeup of society. They discuss big issues in open debates or in private committees. They make laws, but their power depends on the type of government. They also approve spending by budgets to keep the government accountable. Finally, they watch over the government to make sure it follows the rules and uses money wisely.

Internal organization

Each part of a legislature has many members called legislators. They follow special rules to talk about important topics and decide on new laws. They need a certain number of members to be there, which is called a quorum.

Some jobs, like looking at new laws first, are given to smaller groups called committees. These committees are made up of a few members from the legislature. The legislators usually belong to different political parties, and members from each party often meet together in a group called a caucus to plan their work.

Relation to other branches of government

The separation of powers: legislature, executive (government) and judiciary.

Legislatures have different levels of power compared to other parts of government, such as the courts, the military, and leaders who carry out laws. Some scientists tried to measure this power.

The German Bundestag, the Italian Parliament, and Mongolia's State Great Khural were found to have a lot of power. Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's old Transitional Federal Assembly had less power.

In some countries, the legislature is the most powerful part of government. In other systems, leaders must follow what the legislature decides. In some places, the legislature works together with other parts of government. Sometimes, legislatures let other groups help make rules too.

Members

Legislatures are made up of individual members called legislators. These legislators vote on new laws. A legislature usually has a set number of members, called "seats." For example, if a legislature has 100 "seats," there are 100 members.

After being elected, members may have special protections called parliamentary immunity or parliamentary privilege. These protections can cover their actions while they are in office.

Chambers

A legislature can make laws as one group or in several separate groups, called chambers or houses. When it acts as one group, it is called unicameral. If it has two groups, it is called bicameral, and if it has three groups, it is called tricameral.

In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is usually the upper house and the other is the lower house. Members of the upper house are often chosen indirectly or appointed, and they may represent areas rather than just population numbers. They often serve longer terms than members of the lower house. In some countries, the upper house has less power, while in others it has equal or more power.

The General Assembly of Uruguay, the country's national legislature, meets in the Legislative Palace.

In countries made of several states, like federations, the upper house often represents those states. This is true for the European Union and some other places. Sometimes the upper house includes delegates from state governments, or members are elected in ways that give smaller states equal representation.

Tricameral legislatures are uncommon. One example in Massachusetts still exists today, and the last national example was in South Africa. Legislatures with four or more chambers are no longer used anywhere in the world.

The British House of Commons, its lower house

Size

Main article: List of legislatures by number of members

Legislatures have different sizes. China's National People's Congress is the largest, with 2,980 members. Vatican City's Pontifical Commission is the smallest, with only 7 members.

The size of a legislature balances two things: how well it can represent different groups of people and how quickly it can make decisions. Smaller groups can make decisions faster, while larger groups can better represent many different opinions. The number of members in a country's lower house usually grows as the country's population grows, but not as fast — it's related to the cube root of the population.