Everything about Unicameralism totally explained
Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or
parliamentary chamber. Many countries with unicameral
legislatures are often small and homogeneous unitary states and consider an
upper house or second chamber unnecessary.
Concept
A view in favor of unicameral legislatures is that if an upper house is democratic, it simply mirrors the equally democratic lower house, and is therefore duplicative. A theory in favor of this view is that the functions of a second chamber, such as reviewing or revising legislation, can be performed by parliamentary committees, while further constitutional safeguards can be provided by a written
constitution.
In many instances, the governments that now have unicameral legislatures were once bicameral and subsequently eliminated the upper chamber. One reason for such a change is because an elected upper house has overlapped the
lower house and obstructed passage of legislation, an example being the case of the
Landsting in
Denmark (abolished in 1953). Another reason is because an appointed chamber has proven ineffectual, one example being the case of the
Legislative Council in
New Zealand (abolished in 1951).
Other nations, such as the
United Kingdom and
Canada, have technically
bicameral systems that function much as unicameral systems, because one house is largely ceremonial and retains few powers. Thus, in the
United Kingdom, control of the
House of Commons determines control of the
government, and the unelected
House of Lords has the power only to delay legislation and to recommend amendments. Although there's widespread agreement that the House of Lords needs to be reformed, there's little support for simply abolishing it. (see
Reform of the House of Lords).
Supporters of unicameralism note the need to control government spending and the elimination of redundant work done by both chambers. Critics of unicameralism point out the double checks and balances that a bicameral system affords, forcing a greater level of consensus on legislative issues. A feature of unicameralism is that urban areas with large populations have more influence than sparsely populated rural ones. In many cases the only way to get sparsely populated regions on board a unified government is to implement a bicameral system (such as the early United States). Supporters say this is an advantage, as they see it provides better
apportionment while opponents see giving more power to rural regions as a goal in itself.
Unicameral legislatures were and are also common in
Communist (like
People's Republic of Poland,
People's Republic of China and
Cuba) and former Communist states (like
Ukraine,
Moldova and
Serbia), since under Socialist point of view the institution of Senate was seen as
conservative,
elitist and pro-
bourgeoise by nature.
Some of the
subnational entities with unicameral legislatures include
Nebraska,
Guam and the
Virgin Islands in the
United States, the
Australian states and territories of
Queensland,
Northern Territory and the
Australian Capital Territory, all of the
provinces and territories in
Canada, all of the
German Bundesländer, and all of the
Italian Regioni.
In the
United Kingdom, the devolved
Scottish Parliament,
National Assembly for Wales and
Northern Ireland Assembly are also unicameral.
Virtually all city legislatures are also unicameral in the sense that the
city councils are not divided into two chambers. Until the turn of the 20th century, bicameral city councils were common in the United States.
In a non-binding referendum held on July 10, 2005, voters in the
U.S. territory of
Puerto Rico approved changing its
Legislative Assembly to a unicameral body by 456,267 votes in favor (83.7%) versus 88,720 against (16.3%). If both the territory's
House of Representatives and
Senate approve by a 2/3 vote the specific amendments to the
Puerto Rico Constitution that are required for the change to a unicameral legislature, another referendum will be held in the territory to approve such amendments. If those constitutional changes are approved, Puerto Rico will switch to a unicameral legislature as early as 2009.
Examples
National
Subnational
The Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory
All legislatures and legislative councils of the regions and communities of Belgium
All legislatures of the provinces of Canada
The Council of Washington, District of Columbia
The colonial period of the General Assembly of Georgia
All Landtags of the states of Germany
The Legislature of Guam
The Legislative Council of Hong Kong (divide into two chambers for private members' bills)
The Legislature of Nebraska
The Assembly of Northern Ireland
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
The colonial period of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania
The Parliament of Queensland
The Parliament of Scotland (present day)
The Parliament of Scotland (historic) until 1707
The Parliaments of the autonomous communities of Spain
The Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands
The General Assembly of Vermont until 1836
The National Assembly of Wales
Unicameralist trends within the States of the United States
Within the individual United States, bicameralism was usually modeled upon that of the United States Federal Government, with the upper house, in analogy to the states, consisting of State Senators who represented geographic areas independent of their population, typically counties.
In 1964, a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims voided this arrangement as applied to states. In response to this most states replaced the fixed geographic boundaries with more flexible State Senatorial Districts, which are re-drawn after every decennial census. In such cases the term of office for the upper house will usually be longer and the number of seats lower than for the lower house. Like the districts of the lower house they're now subject to the process of gerrymandering, with boundaries manipulated to favor incumbents of both parties (as in California), or to favor the majority party (as in Maryland and Texas).
Nebraska is currently the only state with a unicameral legislature. Nebraska's state legislature is also unique in the sense that it's the only state legislature that's entirely nonpartisan.
In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura said
that the Minnesota Legislature should adopt a single unicameral chamber. Though debated, the idea was never adopted.
Unicameralist trend in the Philippines
In the Philippines, the process of amending or revising the current constitution and form of government is popularly known as Charter Change. A shift to a unicameral parliament is included in the proposals of the constitutional commission created by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. (External Link) Unlike in the United States, senators in the Philippine Senate are elected not per district and state but nationally; the Philippines is a unitary state. (External Link) The Philippine government's decision making process, relative to the United States, is more rigid, highly centralized, much slower and susceptible to political "gridlocks." As a result, the trend for unicameralism as well as other political system reforms are more contentious in the Philippines. (External Link)Further Information
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