Legislature

A legislature is the law-making body of a political unit, usually a national government, that has power to amend and repeal public policy. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation. Legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The most common names for national legislatures are "parliament" and "congress". The members of a legislature are called legislators.

Terminology

Because members of legislatures usually sit together in a specific room to deliberate, seats in that room may be assigned exclusively to members of the legislature. In parliamentary language, the term "seat" is sometimes used to mean that someone is a member of a legislature. For example, to say that a legislature has 100 "seats" means that there are 100 members of the legislature; and saying that someone is "contesting a seat" means they are trying to be elected as a member of the legislature. By extension, the term "seat" is often used in less formal contexts to refer to an electoral district itself, as, for example, in the phrases "safe seat" and "marginal seat".

In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence. According to the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature in a presidential system is considered an independent and coequal branch of government along with both the judiciary and the executive.[1]

Institutional framework

A legislature creates a complex interaction between individual members, political parties, committees, rules of parliamentary procedure, and informal norms.

Chambers

The Congress of the Republic of Peru, the country's national legislature, meets in the Legislative Palace in 2010

A legislature is composed of one or more deliberative assemblies that separately debate and vote upon bills. These assemblies are normally known as chambers or houses. A legislature with only one house is a unicameral legislature, while a bicameral legislature possesses two separate chambers, usually described as an "upper house" and a "lower house". These usually differ in the duties and powers they exercise  the upper house being more revisionary or advisory in parliamentary systems  and the methods used for the selection of members. Tricameral legislatures are rare; the Massachusetts Governor's Council still exists, but the most recent national example existed in the waning years of caucasian-minority rule in South Africa.

In presidential systems, the powers of the two houses are often similar or equal, while in federations, the upper house typically represents the federation's component states. This is a case with the supranational legislature of the European Union. The upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments  as in the European Union and in Germany and, before 1913, in the United States  or be elected according to a formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations, as is the case in Australia and the United States since 1913.

List of Legislatures

Some legislatures are known simply as the Legislature, including:

Current

National

Country Body Type
 GuamLegislature of GuamUnicameral
 LiberiaLegislature of LiberiaBicameral
 Marshall IslandsLegislature of the Marshall IslandsUnicameral
 Northern Mariana IslandsNorthern Mariana Islands Commonwealth LegislatureBicameral
 South SudanNational LegislatureBicameral
 SudanNational LegislatureBicameral
 U.S. Virgin IslandsLegislature of the Virgin IslandsUnicameral

Sub-national

Country Region Body Type
 IndiaMaharashtraMaharashtra LegislatureBicameral
 IndiaBiharBihar LegislatureBicameral
 IndiaJammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir LegislatureBicameral
 IndiaKarnatakaKarnataka LegislatureBicameral
 IndiaKeralaKerala LegislatureUnicameral
 IndiaTamil NaduTamil Nadu LegislatureUnicameral
 IndiaUttar PradeshUttar Pradesh LegislatureBicameral
 South AfricaEastern CapeEastern Cape Provincial LegislatureUnicameral
 South AfricaFree StateFree State LegislatureUnicameral
 South AfricaGautengGauteng Provincial LegislatureUnicameral
 South AfricaKwaZulu-NatalKwaZulu-Natal LegislatureUnicameral
 South AfricaLimpopoLimpopo LegislatureUnicameral
 South AfricaMpumalangaMpumalanga Provincial LegislatureUnicameral
 South AfricaNorth WestNorth West Provincial LegislatureUnicameral
 South AfricaNorthern CapeNorthern Cape Provincial LegislatureUnicameral
 United StatesAlabamaAlabama LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesAlaskaAlaska LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesArizonaArizona State LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesCaliforniaCalifornia State LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesFloridaFlorida LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesHawaiiHawaii State LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesIdahoIdaho LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesKansasKansas LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesLouisianaLouisiana State LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesMaineMaine LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesMichiganMichigan LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesMinnesotaMinnesota LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesMississippiMississippi LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesMontanaMontana LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesNebraskaNebraska LegislatureUnicameral
 United StatesNevadaNevada LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesNew JerseyNew Jersey LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesNew MexicoNew Mexico LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesNew YorkNew York State LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesOklahomaOklahoma LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesSouth DakotaSouth Dakota LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesTexasTexas LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesUtahUtah State LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesWashingtonWashington State LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesWest VirginiaWest Virginia LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesWisconsinWisconsin LegislatureBicameral
 United StatesWyomingWyoming LegislatureBicameral

Defunct

National

Country Body Type
 BurmaLegislatureBicameral
 British GuianaLegislatureBicameral
 Kingdom of HawaiiLegislature of the Kingdom of HawaiiBicameral/unicameral
   NepalInterim legislature of NepalUnicameral
 PhilippinesPhilippine LegislatureBicameral

See also

References

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