Government > Legislature (parliament) Stats: compare key data on Australia & United States
Definitions
- Lower house members: Members of the lower house of the legislature or of the only chamber in a unicameral system.
- People per member: Number of people each member of the legislature represents on average. The number of members of the legislature is the sum of the members of all chambers of parliament, if applicable.
- Strongly bicameral?: Political scientist Robert A. Dahl compares the constitutions of countries which have been “steadily democratic since 1950” on the characteristic of bicameralism, determing if there are two houses in the legislature, both with substantial powers. (Strongly bicameral or not strongly bicameral).
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Term of office for lower house members:
Members of the lower (or sole) house.
No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.
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Term of office for upper house members:
Members of the upper house*.
No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.
- Total members of parliament: Number of members of the legislature (sum of members of all chambers of parliament where applicable).
- Upper house members: Members of the upper house of the legislature. Does not include countries with a unicameral system.
SOURCES: Wikipedia: List of legislatures by number of members; How Democratic is the American Constitution? Robert A. Dahl.2001. ISBN 0-300-09218-0. Table 1.; Wikipedia: Term of office (Terms of office by country)
