Legislature

A legislature (UK: /ˈlɛdʒɪslətʃər/, US: /-ˌleɪtʃər/) is a deliberative assembly that holds the legal authority to make law and exercise political oversight within a political entity such as a state, nation, or city. Legislatures are very important parts of how countries and governments work. They are usually different from the groups that actually run the government every day (the executive) or decide court cases (judicial institutions).

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

Legislatures can exist at many levels, like national, regional, or even city levels, such as the European Parliament. The laws they create are often called primary legislation. They also watch over how money is spent, and they 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 even more, depending on how the country is set up. There are different kinds of legislatures, like parliaments, congresses, and supreme state organs, each working in their own special way based on the country’s rules and beliefs 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 and can be removed by it.

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. This makes it harder for the legislature to remove the leader, but it can happen in very serious situations.

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 various names for their legislative bodies. Some common names include:

Other specific names include:

Names in different languages include:

Even though each legislature has different roles depending on where it is, they all work to choose leaders who will make the right laws for the country.

History

One of the earliest known groups that made laws was the Athenian Ecclesia. During the Middle Ages, kings in Europe would call meetings with important people, and these meetings slowly turned into groups that are like today’s law-making bodies. The oldest group that still exists today 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 in many ways, such as following rules, matching the makeup of society, and responding to what people need. They discuss big issues in different ways — sometimes with open debates, and sometimes in private committees. They make laws, but how much power they have depends on the type of government. They also control spending by approving budgets, which helps 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 discuss important topics and decide on new laws. They need a certain number of members present to do this, 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 the leaders who carry out laws. Some scientists tried to measure this power in 2009. The German Bundestag, the Italian Parliament, and Mongolia's State Great Khural were found to have the most power, while Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's old Transitional Federal Assembly had the least.

In some countries, the legislature is the most powerful part of government and cannot be controlled by other groups or rules. In other systems, leaders must follow what the legislature decides and can be removed if they do not. In some places, the legislature works together with other parts of government as equal partners. 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, often referred to as the number of "seats." For instance, if a legislature has 100 "seats," it means there are 100 members.

After being elected, members may have special protections known as parliamentary immunity or parliamentary privilege. These protections can cover all their actions during their time in office or just those related to their work as legislators.

Chambers

A legislature can make laws either 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 come in different sizes. China's National People's Congress is the largest, with 2,980 members, while 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. Studies show that 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.