Unicameralism

"Unicameral" redirects here. For other uses, see Unicameral (disambiguation).

In government, unicameralism (Latin uni, one + camera, chamber) is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures typically exist in small and homogeneous unitary states, where a second chamber is considered unnecessary.

Concept

Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism. Many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple chambers allowed for guaranteed representation of different social classes (as in the Parliament of the United Kingdom or the French States-General), ethnic or regional interests, or subunits of a federation. Where these factors are unimportant, in unitary states with weak regional identity, unicameralism often prevails. Sometimes, as in New Zealand and Denmark, this comes about through the abolition of one of the two chambers, or, as in Sweden, through the merger of the two chambers into a single one, while in others a second chamber has never existed.

Unicameral legislatures are also common in Communist states such as the People's Republic of China and Cuba. Similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Romania and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures. Both the former Russian SFSR and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were Bicameral. The two chambers were: Soviet of Nationalities and the Soviet of the Union. Russian Federation retained Bicameralism after the dissolution of the USSR and the transition from existing socialism to capitalism. [1]

The principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of legislative deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it reduces costs, as even if the number of legislators is the same as it would be in a multicameral system, there are fewer institutions to maintain and support.

The main weakness of a unicameral system can be seen as the lack of restraint on the majority, particularly noticeable in parliamentary systems where the leaders of the parliamentary majority also dominate the executive. There is also the risk, depending on how seats are allocated in the legislature, that important sectors of society may not be adequately represented.

List of unicameral legislatures

  Nations with bicameral legislatures.
  Nations with unicameral legislatures.
  No legislature.

Approximately half of the world's sovereign states are presently unicameral, including both the most populous (the People's Republic of China) and the least populous (the Vatican City).

Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures. These include Nebraska, Guam and the Virgin Islands in the United States, Hong Kong, the Australian states and territories of Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, all of the provinces and territories in Canada, all of the German Bundesländer, all of the Italian Regioni, all of the Spanish Autonomous Communities, and all of the Brazilian states.

In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly are also unicameral.

National


Territorial

Subnational

Federations

Devolved governments

Other

Historic

National

Colonies and States in the US

Federations

Unicameralism within the subdivisions of the United States

Within U.S. states, Nebraska is currently the only state with a unicameral legislature; after a state-wide vote, it changed from bicameral to unicameral in 1937.[2] Nebraska's state legislature is also unique in the sense that it is the only state legislature that is entirely nonpartisan.

Local government legislatures of counties, cities, or other political subdivisions within states are usually unicameral and have limited lawmaking powers compared to their state and federal counterparts.

In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesota Legislature into a single unicameral chamber.[3] Although debated, the idea was never adopted.

In a non-binding referendum held on July 10, 2004, voters in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico approved changing its Legislative Assembly to a unicameral body by 456,267 votes in favor (83.7%) versus 88,720 against (16.3%). If both the territory's House of Representatives and Senate approve by a 2/3 vote the specific amendments to the Puerto Rico Constitution that are required for the change to a unicameral legislature, another referendum will be held in the territory to approve such amendments. If those constitutional changes are approved, Puerto Rico could switch to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015.

On June 9, 2009, the Maine House of Representatives voted to form a unicameral legislature, but the measure did not pass the Senate.[4]

Because of legislative gridlock in 2009, former Congressman Rick Lazio, a prospective candidate for governor, has proposed that New York adopt unicameralism.[5]

Unicameralism in the Philippines

Though the current Congress of the Philippines is bicameral the country experienced unicameralism from 1898-1899 during the First Philippine Republic and from 1935-1940 during the Commonwealth Era. Under the 1973 Constitution, the legislative body was called Batasang Pambansa, which functioned within a semi-presidential system form of government until 1986.

The ongoing process of amending or revising the current Constitution and form of government is popularly known as Charter Change. A shift to a unicameral parliament was included in the proposals of the constitutional commission created by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.[6] Unlike in the United States, senators in the Senate of the Philippines are elected not per district and state but nationally; the Philippines is a unitary state.[7] The Philippine government's decision-making process, relative to the United States, is more rigid, highly centralised, much slower and susceptible to political gridlock. As a result, the trend for unicameralism as well as other political system reforms are more contentious in the Philippines.[8]

While Congress is bicameral, all local legislatures are unicameral: the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Boards), Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Councils), Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Councils), Sangguniang Barangay (Barangay Councils) and the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Councils).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, Wikipedia and Supreme Soviet of Russia, Wikipedia
  2. ↑ "History of the Nebraska Unicameral". nebraskalegislature.gov. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  3. ↑ "One People - One House". News.minnesota.publicradio.org. 1999-04-29. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  4. ↑ "RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Establish a Unicameral Legislature" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  5. ↑ One for All, Rick Lazio, New York Times, July 14, 2009
  6. ↑ "Constitutional Commission proposals". Concom.ph. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  7. ↑ Softrigger Interactive (2008-02-25). "Philippines : Gov.Ph : About the Philippines". Web.archive.org. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  8. ↑ "Why Change?". Concom.ph. Retrieved 2013-11-26.