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Encyclopedia > Legislative seat

A legislature is a governmental deliberative assembly with the power to adopt laws. Legislatures are known by many names, including: parliament, congress, diet and national assembly. A government is the body that has the power to make and enforce laws within an organization or group. ... A deliberative assembly is an organization, comprised of members, that uses a parliamentary procedure for making decisions. ... Aphorism Critical legal studies Jurisprudence Law (principle) Legal research Letter versus Spirit List of legal abbreviations Legal code Natural justice Natural law Philosophy of law Religious law External links Find more information on Law by searching one of Wikipedias sibling projects: Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School...


In parliamentary systems of government, the legislature is formally supreme and appoints the executive. A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... An appointment is a time reserved for something such as a doctor visit, much like a reservation. ...


In presidential systems of government, the legislature is considered a power branch which is equal to, and independent of, the executive. A presidential system, or a congressional system, is a system of government of a republic where the executive branch is elected separately from the legislative. ...


In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise taxes and adopt the budget and other money bills. The consent of the legislature is also often required to ratify treaties and declare war. Look up Act on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Act may refer to: in law, a written document that attests the legality of the transaction. ... Categories: UK geography stubs ... A tax is a compulsory charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (e. ... Budget generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues. ... A money bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending, as opposed to changes in public law. ... Ratification is the process of adopting an international treaty, or a constitution or other nationally binding document (such as an amendment to a constitution) by the agreement of multiple subnational entities. ... A treaty is a binding agreement under international law concluded by subjects of international law, namely states and international organizations. ... A Declaration of War is a formal declaration issued by a national government indicating that a state of war exists between that nation, and one or more others. ...

Contents


Chambers

The primary component of a legislature is one or more chambers or houses: assemblies that debate and vote upon bills. Debate, also Debating outside the USA and Canada, is a formalized system of (usually) logical argument. ... Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ... A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a legislature that has not been ratified or adopted. ...


Most legislatures are either bicameral or unicameral: In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. ... Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ...

  • A unicameral legislature is the simplest kind of law-making body and has only one house.
  • A bicameral legislature possesses two separate chambers, usually described as an upper house and a lower house, which may differ in duties, powers, and methods for the selection of members.

In most parliamentary systems, the lower house is the most powerful house while the upper house is merely a chamber of advice or review. However in presidential systems the powers of the two houses are often similar or equal. In federations it is typical for the upper house to represent the component states. For this purpose the upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments, as is the case of Germany and was the case in the pre-19 century United States, or to be elected according to a formula that grants disproportionate representation to smaller states, as is the case today in Australia and the United States. Historically, as well as bicameral and unicameral bodies, there have also been rare instances of tricameral legislatures. An upper house (Frequently known as a Senate) is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. ... A lower house (sometimes known as the first chamber) is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. ... A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... A presidential system, or a congressional system, is a system of government of a republic where the executive branch is elected separately from the legislative. ... A federation (from the Latin fœdus, covenant) is a state comprised of a number of self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states) united by a central (federal) government. ... Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. ...


Many legislatures are said to include not just one or more houses but also the head of state. This is because in most systems it is necessary that, after being approved by the house or houses of the legislature, a bill receive the assent of the head of state before it can become law. This may be the case even if, as is the case in many parliamentary systems, the assent of the head of state is merely a formality and will not be withheld. It is also common, however, for the head of state not to be considered a formal part of the legislature, even if they have the power to veto laws. The British Parliament formally consists of the Crown, and two houses; similarly, the Irish Oireachtas consists officially of the President and two houses. In contrast, the United States Congress consists only of its two houses and does not officially include the US president, despite the fact that he wields a veto. The President of the Philippines meets with the President of the United States. ... The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ... The British monarch or Sovereign is the monarch and head of state of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and is the source of all executive, judicial and (as the Queen-in-Parliament) legislative power. ... The Oireachtas is the National Parliament of the Republic of Ireland. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ...


Competences

The power of legislatures varies widely from country to country. Rubber stamp legislature is a derogatory name for a legislature that has no real power but simply approves, by unanimous or near unanimous votes, bills put before it by other institutions. For example, the legislatures of many Communist states were often derided as mere 'rubber stamps' for decisions of the ruling party. The term is not usually used to describe legislatures of parliamentary systems. Although the final draft of legislation introduced by the government almost always passes, these legislatures are generally not labelled "rubber stamps" because legislators are involved in the drafting and amendment of bills. A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... Legislation refers to the process of enacting statutory laws, or to the set of statutory laws in a state. ...


List of titles of legislatures

National

Historical An aerial view of Parliament of India at New Delhi. ... A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ... In politics, a Diet is a formal deliberative assembly. ... The National Assembly is the name of either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. ... The Althing (Modern Icelandic Alþingi; Old Norse Alþing) is the national parliament: literally, the all-thing (or General Assembly) of Iceland. ... The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament; its building in Lisbon is referred to as Palácio de São Bento. ... The Bundestag (Federal Diet) is the parliament of Germany. ... The Cortes Generales (English: General Courts) is the Spanish legislature. ... The Eduskunta in Finnish, or the Riksdag in Swedish, is the parliament of Finland. ... The Federal Assembly may be: Federal Assembly of Austria Federal Assembly of Germany Federal Assembly of Russia Federal Assembly of Switzerland This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Folketing, or Folketinget, is the name of the national parliament of Denmark. ... The Knesset (כנסת, Hebrew for assembly) is the Parliament of Israel. ... The Legislative Yuan building in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City (the view is blocked by the childrens hospital building of the National Taiwan University Hospital). ... The Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: 中華民國; Simplified Chinese: 中华民国, Wades-Giles: Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo², Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHuá MínGuó, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó, Pe̍h-oÄ“-jÄ«: Tiong-hoâ Bîn-kok) is the state that currently exercises sovereignty... The Oireachtas is the National Parliament of the Republic of Ireland. ... Riigikogu is the name of the national parliament of Estonia. ... The Riksdag or Sveriges Riksdag is the Parliament of Sweden. ... Executive President Vice-President Prime Minister Dy. ... Executive President Vice-President Prime Minister Deputy Prime Minister The Union Ministries Legislative Parliament Rajya Sabha Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha Speaker of the House Judicial Supreme Court Chief Justice of the Supreme Court High Courts District Courts Constitution Fundamental Rights and Directive principles Regions States and territories... The parliament of Croatia is called Hrvatski Sabor in Croatian - the word sabor means an assembly, a gathering, a congress. ... The Saeima Plenary Chamber The Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. ... Seimas is the Lithuanian parliament. ... This article is about the lower chamber of Polish parliament. ... Sculpute:Play of Black Horses in front of the Parliament The Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro (Скупштина Србије и Црне Горе/Skupština Srbije i Crne Gore) is the national assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. ... The word States-General, or Estates-General, refers in English to : the Etats-Généraux of France before the French Revolution the Staten-Generaal of the Netherlands. ... The Estates-General (Staten-Generaal) is the parliament of the Netherlands. ... This article is part of the Politics of Norway series. ... The Tynwald is the bicameral legislature of the Isle of Man. ... Verkhovna Rada. ...

State The word States-General, or Estates-General, refers in English to : the Etats-Généraux of France before the French Revolution the Staten-Generaal of the Netherlands. ... Irish stamp comemorating the first meeting of Dáil Éireann in 1919. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Volkskammer (Peoples Chamber) was the Parliament of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). ... The German Democratic Republic (GDR) (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik), also commonly known as East Germany, was a communist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... For the Temptations album, see 1990 (Temptations album) MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ...

Legislatures of the 50 States The current party composition of the 50 state legislatures is: 20 Republican Legislatures 20 Democratic Legislatures 9 Divided Legislatures 1 Non-Partisan Legislature Notes: The Party Strengths column indicates the number of seats belonging to the two largest parties, Democratic Party and the Republican Party. ... In Germany, Austria and South Tyrol, a Landtag is a unicameral legislature for a federal land. ...

See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
ROC legislative election, 2004 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2282 words)
Legislative Yuan (第六屆立法委員選舉) of the Republic of China on Taiwan was held on December 11, 2004.
Although the pan-green coalition improved both their seat totals and their vote percentage over the last election, the legislative elections were widely interpreted as a major defeat for the pan-green coalition, given their goal of gaining a majority of seats in the Legislative Yuan.
The legislative elections were the last in Taiwan using the single non-transferable vote, as a constitutional amendment was passed in 2005 to convert the election format in the 2007 legislative elections.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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