IR 301 Comparative Politics: The West

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IR 301 Comparative PoliticsThe West

• Topic 9_2
• Parliaments

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How Many Houses?

• 1. Uni-Cameral Parliaments have One Chamber or
  House
• Bi-Cameral Parliaments have Two Chambers or
  Houses
• Tri- and Quadri- (Three and Four) Chamber
  Parliaments no longer exist

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Uni-Cameral Systems in Europe

• Examples
• Cyprus (South)
• Denmark
• Finland
• Greece
• Iceland

• Luxembourg
• Portugal
• Sweden
• TRNC
• Turkey

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Arguments for Bi-Cameralism

• In Unitary (i.e. non-Federal) States
• Need for a Revising Chamber
• Too much work for one House
• Normally the Upper or Revising House is not
  directly-elected the Lower elected House
  normally has the last word.

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Arguments for Bi-Cameralism

• In Federal States
• It is necessary to represent the individual
  states themselves as well as the people of the
  federation as a whole
• Modern federations are always bi-cameral for this
  reason
• Normally the two Houses have approximately equal
  powers.

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Bi-Cameral Systems

• Examples
• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy

• Netherlands
• Spain
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States
• (Yellow federations)

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Strong and Weak Parliaments

• In fact, in the modern world there are very few
  really strong parliaments. The United States
  Congress is perhaps the only genuinely strong
  parliament today
• But we can still say that some parliaments are a
  bit stronger than others.

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Strong Parliaments

• Strong parliaments are ones that can exercise
  their formal constitutional powers relatively
  independently of the government.
• In other words, the government cannot always be
  sure that it can control the parliament.

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Strong Parliaments

• Strong parliaments usually (although n not
  always) have the following
• Relatively well-developed Committee systems
• A consensual debating style
• Limited formal powers

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Examples of Strong Parliaments

• Germany
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Denmark
• Turkey (?)
• and, especially,
• The United States

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Weak Parliaments

• Weak parliaments are ones that can not usually
  do anything that the government does not want.
• In other words, the government can usually be
  sure that it can control the parliament.

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Weak Parliaments

• Weak parliaments usually (although n not
  always) have the following
• Relatively un-developed Committee systems
• A spectacular and dramatic debating style
• Extensive formal powers

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Examples of Weak Parliaments

• United Kingdom
• France
• Ireland
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Sweden
• Finland