Legislatures (Week 7 Part 1) Flashcards
What are legislatures?
Legislatures are deliberative bodies composed of decision makers who represent the population at large. They make laws and political decisions in democracies (but also in authoritarian regimes).
What do legislatures do?
Legislatures propose legislating, organizing votes and bringing them to the floor of legislature. They are involved with trading and compromises among multiple parties in a governing coalition, or within parties. They also deal with bills. They control government budgets and funds for agencies, they focus national discussion, socialize politicians, deal with speechmaking, discussions, and debates, and in parliamentary systems they scrutinize/oversee the government and appoint and sustain the government.
What are the two types of legislatures?
Bicameral (lower and upper house) and Unicameral
How does the book define and describe legislatures?
tba
What are the roles of legislatures in parliamentary systems?
oversight, holding executive accountable, etc.
Why the distinction between unicameral and bicameral and what is the distinction?
tba
What are the roles of the upper chamber in general?
Bicameralism involves an upper chamber and this upper chamber focuses on discussing policy proposals in a more ‘reflective’ manner than the politicized lower house. The lower chamber usually the one that reflects the population at large.
Discuss the structure of the British government and the German chambers and how they are both bicameral but different, and how? (Know the actual names of their chambers and their functions - UK = House of Commons and House of Lords; Germany = Bundestag and Bundesrat)
The UK is a Bicameral Parliament with a lower chamber considered the House of Commons (aka British Parliament) and an Upper chamber considered the House of Lords. The House of Commons is more powerful in legislating.
What are the different names in different contexts of legislatures?
Congress, Parliament, Assembly, House, Chamber
