THE REASON FOR HAVING A SECOND CHAMBER: A COMPARATIVE REVIEW OF SELECTED LEGISLATURES

The Reason For Having A Second Chamber: A Comparative Review Of Selected Legislatures

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Chapter 1 - The Theoretical Framework5

1-PRE-BICAMERAL INSTITUTIONS IN ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME6

a- Institutional Evolution7

b- Intellectual Evolution9

2-BICAMERALISM PROPER14

a- Institutional Evolution14

b- Intellectual Evolution17

Chapter 2 - The Role of the Second Chambers20

TERRITORIAL ROLES24

Chapter 3 - The Limitation of Second Chambers28

Chapter 4 - Evaluation of the Rationale for Second Chambers34

Conclusion39

Bibliography42

The reason for having a second chamber: a comparative review of selected legislatures

Introduction

This study shall examine the various types of second chamber in existence around the globe today. It shall also address the nature of the make-up of the second chamber itself and the theoretical justifications offered to cement its role in the legislative process. For example, an elected second chamber can enable all parts of the country, all communities within it and all variety of political opinion to be represented in the second chamber should the lower house not for some reason be reflective of a wide spectrum of political and intellectual positions. Another key point here is that the apparent advantages of an elected second chamber also double essentially as arguments concerning why the first chamber in any bi-cameral system ultimately could have the strength and legitimacy to govern without any second chamber.

This study shall examine how systems in operation around the world today deal with these tensions between the two chambers and how the upper chamber functions when the primary legislative power resides with the lower house. It shall also consider ideas for reform, especially in the UK, and shall explore the debates which surround such changes, how many upper chambers justify their existence and offer valuable services to the overall progress of legislation. In many instances the UK's proposed reforms provide a unique contemporary prism through which to view and consider the previously arcane and academic arguments discussed in public law journals concerning the theoretical role of or justification for an upper chamber. The differing roles played by several current upper houses shall also be addressed and I shall explore the way they function and how involved they are in issues relating to the protection of the constitution, minorities or human rights, how they might act as a check or a balance against an overly large majority in the lower chamber or how they might offer a higher level of scrutiny and form of opposition to the government of the day and their proposals. As well as the revising or scrutiny function any second chamber might play I shall address how representative a second chamber should be given its typically unelected format. An unelected House of Lords for example, without a direct electoral mandate, is likely to have a selection criteria based on either expertise or experience. However, there is clear desire to ensure that appointments are made less politically partisan and do not omit younger or more socially representative groups and I shall consider questions about how these two aims can be ...