A
parliament is a
legislatureA legislature is a type of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law...
, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the
Westminster systemThe Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
modeled after that of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. The name is derived from the
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
parlementThe political institutions of the Parlement in ancien régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and deliberation. In the thirteenth century, judicial functions were added...
, the action of
parler (to speak): a
parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which such a discussion took place. It acquired its modern meaning as it came to be used for the body of people (in an institutional sense) who would meet to discuss matters of state.
Parliament Government
Legislatures called parliaments operate under a
parliamentary systemA parliamentary system is a system of government where in the ministers of the executive branch are drawn from the legislature, and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined...
of government in which the executive is constitutionally answerable to the parliament. This can be contrasted with a
presidential systemA presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
, on the model of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
'
congressional systemThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
, which operate under a stricter
separation of powersThe separation of powers, also known as trias politica, is a model for the governance of democratic states. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the uncodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
whereby the executive does not form part of, nor is appointed by, the parliamentary or legislative body. Typically, congresses do not select or dismiss
heads of governmentsHead of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled Prime Minister, President of the Government, Premier, etc...
, and governments cannot request an early dissolution as may be the case for parliaments. Some states have a
semi-presidential systemThe semi-presidential system, also known as the presidential-parliamentary system, or premier-presidential system, is a system of government in which a president and a prime minister are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state...
which combines a powerful president with an executive responsible to parliament.
Parliaments may consist of
chambersMany parliaments or other legislatures consist of two chambers : an elected lower house, and an upper house or Senate which may be appointed or elected by a different mechanism from the lower house. This style of two houses is called bicameral...
or
houses, and are usually either
bicameralIn government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses. Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of the classical notion of mixed...
or
unicameralUnicameralism 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:...
—although more complex models exist, or have existed (
see TricameralismTricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted to unicameralism and bicameralism, both of which are far more common....
).
A nation's
prime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
("PM") is almost always the leader of the majority party in the lower house of parliament, but only holds his or her office as long as the "confidence of the house" is maintained. If members of the lower house lose faith in the leader for whatever reason, they can often call a vote of no confidence and force the PM to resign. This can be particularly dangerous to a government when the distribution of seats is relatively even, in which case a new election is often called shortly thereafter. However, in case of general discontent with the head of government, his replacement can be made very smoothly without all the complications that it represents in the case of a Presidentialist system.
India
Ancient IndianThe known history of India - the name in this context includes the areas now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period...
, Vedic texts mention of two Parliament-like gatherings of the Indo-Aryan kingdoms called the
SabhāSabha is one of the districts of Libya. It is located in the center of the country. The capital is Sabha with a population of 130,000.- Overview :...
and the
Samiti. During the time of the
BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher in the north eastern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is regarded by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha of our age. The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c...
, many states were forms of republics, called the
SanghaSangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose. It is commonly used in several senses to refer to Buddhist or Jain groups...
s. The Sabha has been interpreted by the historians as a representative assembly of the elect—the important men of the clan, which ran day-to-day business with the king. The Samiti seems to be a gathering of
all the male members of the kingdom, and probably convened only for the ratification/election of a new king. The two largely democratic institutions, which kept a check on the absolutism of the king, were given a sacred position, and have been called the daughters of the deity
PrajapatiIn Hinduism, Prajapati is a Hindu deity presiding over procreation, and protector of life. He appears as a creator deity or supreme god above the other Vedic deities in RV 10.121.10 and in Brahmana literature...
in the Vedas, the holiest of all Hindu scriptures and the earliest Indo-European literature. However, these democratic institutions became weaker as republics became larger and elected chieftainship moved towards hereditary and absolute monarchy. The Sabha and the Samiti bear almost no mention in later literature. After this, India would not have any democratic legislature till the British times , with such bodies as the
Central Legislative AssemblyThe Central Legislative Assembly was a legislature for India created by the Government of India Act 1919 from the former Imperial Legislative Council, implementing the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms...
, a step in the direction of the modern democratic
Parliament of IndiaThe Parliament of India is the federal and supreme legislative body of India. It consists of the office of President of India and two houses, the lower house, known as the Lok Sabha and the upper house, known as the Rajya Sabha.. It is located in New Delhi at Sansad Bhavan on Sansad Marg...
, the two Houses of which still bear the ancient name of
SabhaSabha is one of the districts of Libya. It is located in the center of the country. The capital is Sabha with a population of 130,000.- Overview :...
.
Caliphate
Traditional
SunniSunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. It is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah or Ahl as-Sunnah for short...
Islamic lawyersUlema refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
agree that
shuraShura is an Arabic word for "consultation". It is believed to be the method by which pre-Islamic Arabian tribes selected leaders and made major decisions....
, loosely translated as 'consultation of the people', was a function of the
CaliphateThe term caliphate refers to the first form of government inspired by Islam. It was initially led by Muhammad's disciples as a continuation of the political authority the prophet established, known as the 'rashidun caliphates'. It represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah, and was the...
, where the
Majlis al ShuraMajlis al Shura is a transliteration of the Arabicمجلس الشورىwhich means approximately "consultative council", although it has been co-opted as a term for Parliament or Advisory Council. Its pronunciation is approximately "majlis ash-shura"....
(consultative council, or parliament) advised the caliph. The importance of this is premised by the following verses of the Qur'an:
The
majlisMajlis , is an Arabic term meaning "a place of sitting" used to describe various types of formal legislative assemblies in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries. Also it is the equivalent of the term legislature in some Islamic-culture states...
is also the means to elect a new caliph. Al-Mawardi has written that members of the majlis should satisfy three conditions: they must be just, they must have enough knowledge to distinguish a good caliph from a bad one, and must have sufficient wisdom and judgment to select the best caliph. Al-Mawardi also said in emergencies when there is no caliphate and no majlis, the people themselves should create a majlis, select a list of candidates for caliph, then the majlis should select from the list of candidates. Some modern interpretations of the role of the Majlis al Shura include those by Islamist author
Sayyid QutbSayyid Qutb was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamist, poet, and the leading intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s. Some Muslims even consider him a martyr because of his execution by Nasser's government...
and by
Taqiuddin al-NabhaniTaqiuddin al-Nabhani was a Sunni Shafi'i Islamic jurist, and theologian...
, the founder of a transnational political movement devoted to the revival of the Caliphate. In an analysis of the shura chapter of the Qur'an, Qutb argued Islam requires only that the ruler consult with at least some of the ruled (usually the elite), within the general context of God-made laws that the ruler must execute.
Taqiuddin al-NabhaniTaqiuddin al-Nabhani was a Sunni Shafi'i Islamic jurist, and theologian...
, writes that Shura is important and part of the "the ruling structure" of the Islamic caliphate, "but not one of its pillars," and may be neglected without the Caliphate's rule becoming unIslamic. Non-Muslims may serve in the majlis, though they may not vote or serve as an official.
England
England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist and advise the King on important matters. Under the
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon may refer to:* historically, the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people inhabiting parts of England during the Dark Ages** their Anglo-Saxon language, commonly referred to as Old English** anything pertaining to the History of Anglo-Saxon England...
Kings, there was an advisory council, the
WitenagemotThe Witenagemot or the Witena gemot , also known as the Witan was a political institution in Anglo-Saxon England which operated from before the 7th century until the 11th century...
("meeting of wise men"). As part of the
Norman Conquest of EnglandThe Norman conquest of England began in 1066 with the invasion of the Kingdom of England by the troops of William, Duke of Normandy, and his victory at the Battle of Hastings. This resulted in Norman control of England, which was firmly established during the subsequent few years. The Norman...
, the new King,
William IWilliam I , better known as William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy from AD 1035 and King of England from late 1066 to his death. William is sometimes also referred to as "William II" in relation to his position as the second Duke of Normandy of that name...
, did away with the Witenagemot, replacing it with a
Curia RegisCuria regis is a Latin term meaning "royal council" or "king's court."- England :The Curia Regis, in the Kingdom of England, was a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters...
("King's Council"). Membership of the Curia was largely restricted to the tenants in chief, the few nobles who "rented" great estates directly from the King, along with certain senior ecclesiastics.
Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power to which the throne had to defer no later than the rule of Edward I. (Kaeuper, Richard W., War Justice and Public Order: England and France in the Later Middle Ages, Oxford U. Press, 1988.) Like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especially
financeFinance is the science of funds management. The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance. Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated...
. A meeting in 1295 became known as the
Model ParliamentThe Model Parliament is the term used for the 1295 parliament of King Edward I. This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and boroughs. Each county returned two knights, two burgesses were elected from each borough, and...
because it set the pattern for later Parliaments. The significant difference between the Model Parliament and the earlier Curia Regis was the addition of the Commons, that is, elected representatives of rural landowners and of townsmen. In 1307,
Edward IEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English Barons. In 1259 he briefly sided with a baronial...
agreed not to collect certain taxes without consent of the realm. He also enlarged the court system.
William of NormandyWilliam I , better known as William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy from AD 1035 and King of England from late 1066 to his death. William is sometimes also referred to as "William II" in relation to his position as the second Duke of Normandy of that name...
brought to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
the feudal system of his native
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
, and sought the advice of the
curia regisCuria regis is a Latin term meaning "royal council" or "king's court."- England :The Curia Regis, in the Kingdom of England, was a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters...
, before making laws. This body is the origin from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, the
Privy CouncilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government...
and Cabinet have sprung. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament; judges sit in the Supreme Court of Judicature; and only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court.
The tenants-in-chief often struggled with their spiritual counterparts (Christian Humphreys) and with the King for power. In 1215, they secured from
JohnJohn , King of England, reigned from 6 April 1199 until his death. He acceded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I, who died without issue...
the
Magna CartaMagna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum , is an English legal charter, originally issued in the year 1215. It was written in Latin and is known by its Latin name...
, which established that the King may not levy or collect any taxes (except the feudal taxes to which they were hitherto accustomed), save with the consent of a council. It was also established that the most important tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics be summoned to the council by personal writs from the Sovereign, and that all others be summoned to the council by general writs from the
sheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
s of their counties. Modern government has its origins in the Curia Regis; parliament descends from the Great Council later known as the
parliamentum established by
Magna CartaMagna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum , is an English legal charter, originally issued in the year 1215. It was written in Latin and is known by its Latin name...
.
The first
English ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
was formed during the reign of
King Henry IIIHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
in the 13th century. In 1265,
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of LeicesterSimon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester , was a French-English nobleman, notable as the principal leader of the baronial opposition to King Henry III of England. After the rebellion of 1263 and 1264, de Montfort became de facto ruler of England and called the first directly elected parliament in...
, who was in rebellion against
Henry IIIHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
, summoned a parliament of his supporters without any or prior royal authorization. The
archbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
s,
bishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s,
abbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
s,
earlEarl was the Anglo-Saxon form and jarl the Scandinavian form of a title meaning "chieftain" and referring especially to chieftains set to rule a territory in a king's stead...
s and
baronBaron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman."...
s were summoned, as were two
knightA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
s from each shire and two burgesses from each
boroughA borough is an administrative division of various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
. Knights had been summoned to previous councils, but the representation of the boroughs was unprecedented. De Montfort's scheme was formally adopted by
Edward IEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English Barons. In 1259 he briefly sided with a baronial...
in the so-called "
Model ParliamentThe Model Parliament is the term used for the 1295 parliament of King Edward I. This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and boroughs. Each county returned two knights, two burgesses were elected from each borough, and...
" of 1295. At first, each
estateThe Estates of the realm were the broad divisions of society, usually distinguishing nobility, clergy, and commoners recognized in the Middle Ages and later, in some parts of Europe...
debated independently; by the reign of
Edward IIIEdward III was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into the most efficient military power in Europe...
, however, Parliament had been separated into two Houses and was assuming recognisably its modern form.
Parliament under Henry VIII and Edward VI
The purpose and structure of parliament in Tudor England underwent a significant transformation under the reign of Henry VIII. Originally its methods were primarily medieval and the monarch still had inarguable dominion over the decisions. According to Elton, it was Cromwell who then initiated the beginnings of change within parliament. He said ‘there was created a revised machinery of government whose principle was bureaucratic organization in the place of the personal control of the King’s estate.' The power of the monarch was considerably lessened, instead becoming the rule of 'King-in-Parliament', a balanced fusion of the two bodies in order to establish a more effective course of reign. This was the basis of the first ever constitutional monarchy in England, a system which is still in effect today.
The Reformation Acts gave parliament unlimited power over the country, and authority over every matter, be it social, economic, political or even religious; it legalised the Reformation, officially and indisputably. The King had to rule through the council, not over it, and there had to be mutual agreement when creating or passing laws, changing religions or adjusting taxes. The monarch no longer had sole control over the country. For instance, during the later years of Mary, the parliament originally rejected Mary's intent to revise Catholicism, and even later, denied Elizabeth her request for marriage. If parliament had had this power before Cromwell, during Wolsey's reign as Secretary, the reformation may never have happened as the king would have had to gain the consent of all parliament members before so drastically changing the country's religious laws. Another change that followed Cromwell's parliamentary interventions was that under the reign of Edward VI, parliament was used far more commonly that under Henry VIII; seven sessions in the six and a half years that Edward ruled.
The effectiveness of parliament considerably increased after Cromwell's adjustments. It gave the country an unprecedented stability when dealing with dynastic complications, such as a minor king or the lack of a suitable heir. When an acceptable monarch was not available, the changes in government meant that the country could still run efficiently through the parliament, without having to succumb to civil war. Management and organisation was also improved and parliamentary procedure was documented, statutes printed. The fact that the monarch was suddenly dependent on another political body meant that decisions were more thoroughly considered and the rash whims of Henry VIII were trivialised and reduced. He could not establish supremacy by proclamation; he needed the parliament to enforce statute, to add felonies and treasons. One of the main liberties of parliament was its freedom of speech; Henry allowed anything to be spoken openly within parliament and the speakers were not allowed to be arrested, a fact which they exploited incessantly. Despite this fact however, parliament held very little objection to the desires of the monarch, and under Henry and Edward's reign it complied willingly to the majority of the Kings' decisions.
As Williams described it, 'King and parliament were not separate entities, but a single body, of which the monarch was the senior partner and the Lords and the Commons the lesser, but still essential, members.'
France
Originally, there was only the Parliament of
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, born out of the Curia Regis in 1307, and located inside the medieval royal palace, now the Paris Hall of Justice. The jurisdiction of the
Parliament of Paris covered the entire kingdom. In the thirteenth century, judicial functions were added. In 1443, following the turmoil of the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known...
, King
Charles VII of FranceCharles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France from Paris.He was a member of the House of Valois, the son of Charles VI, but his...
granted
LanguedocLanguedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² Languedoc is a former...
its own
parliament by establishing the
Parliament of
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
, the first
parliament outside of Paris, whose jurisdiction extended over the most part of southern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. From 1443 until the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
several other
parliaments were created in some provinces of France (
GrenobleGrenoble is a city in south-eastern France situated at the foot of the French Alps where the Drac joins the Isère River. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère. The proximity of the mountains make the city named "Capital of Alps."The history of the...
,
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
).
All the
parliaments could issue regulatory decrees for the application of royal edicts or of customary practices; they could also refuse to register laws that they judged contrary to fundamental law or simply as being untimely. Parliamentary power in France was suppressed more so than in England as a result of
absolutismAbsolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government where the king or queen has absolute power over all aspects of his/her subjects' lives. Although some religious authorities may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom, in an...
, and parliaments were eventually overshadowed by the larger
Estates GeneralIn France under the Ancient Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
, up until the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, when the National Assembly became the lower house of France's bicameral legislature.
Scotland
From the 10th century the
Kingdom of AlbaThe Kingdom of Alba pertains to the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900, and of Alexander III in 1286 which then led indirectly to the Scottish Wars of Independence...
was ruled by chiefs (
toisechs) and subkings (
mormaers) under the
suzeraintySuzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary some limited domestic autonomy. The superior entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a suzerain...
, real or nominal, of a
High KingA high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...
. Popular assemblies, as in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, were involved in law-making, and sometimes in king-making, although the introduction of
tanistryTanistry was a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist was the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ireland, Scotland and Man, to succeed to the chieftainship or to the kingship.-Origins:The Tanist was chosen from...
—naming a successor in the lifetime of a king—made the second less than common. These early assemblies cannot be considered "parliaments" in the later sense of the word, and were entirely separate from the later, Norman-influenced, institution.
The
Parliament of ScotlandThe Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives The Parliament of...
evolved during the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
from the King's Council of Bishops and Earls. The unicameral parliament is first found on record, referred to as a
colloquiumColloquium can refer to:* the Parliament of Scotland, called a "colloquium" in Latin records....
, in 1235 at
KirklistonKirkliston is a small village within the City of Edinburgh council area of Scotland. It sits on the historic route between Edinburgh and Queensferry, the gateway to Fife and the north. Today, it is bypassed by the A90...
(a village now in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
).
By the early fourteenth century the attendance of knights and
freeholderA freeholder can refer to:* one who holds title to real property in Fee simple* an official of county government in the U.S. state of New Jersey*A proprietor who holds a piece of land outright and has the right to lease, rent or sell as he pleases....
s had become important, and from 1326
burghA Burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United Kingdom...
commissioners attended. Consisting of the Three Estates; of clerics, lay
tenants-in-chiefIn medieval and early modern European society a tenant-in-chief, sometimes vassal-in-chief, denotes the nobles who held their lands as tenants directly from the monarch, as opposed to holding them from another nobleman or senior member of the clergy...
and burgh commissioners sitting in a single chamber, the Scottish parliament acquired significant powers over particular issues. Most obviously it was needed for consent for taxation (although taxation was only raised irregularly in Scotland in the medieval period), but it also had a strong influence over
justiceJustice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness, or equity.-Concept of justice:Justice... concerns the proper ordering of things and persons within a society. As a concept it has been subject to philosophical, legal, and theological reflection and...
,
foreign policyA country's foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent, how the country will interact with non-state actors...
,
warWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
, and all manner of other legislation, whether political, ecclesiastical, social or economic. Parliamentary business was also carried out by "sister" institutions, before c. 1500 by General Council and thereafter by the Convention of Estates. These could carry out much business also dealt with by Parliament — taxation, legislation and policy-making — but lacked the ultimate authority of a full parliament.
The parliament, which is also referred to as the Estates of Scotland, the Three Estates, the Scots Parliament or the auld Scots Parliament (
EngEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
:
old), met until the
Acts of UnionThe Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England to put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the...
merged the Parliament of Scotland and the
Parliament of EnglandThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, creating the new
Parliament of Great BritainThe Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
in 1707.
Poland
According to the
ChronicleGenerally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler...
s of
Gallus AnonymusGallus Anonymus is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum , composed in Latin about 1115.Gallus is generally regarded as the first historian to have described Poland...
, the first legendary
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
ruler,
SiemowitSiemowit was, according to the chronicles of Gallus Anonymus, the son of Piast the Wheelwright and Rzepicha. He was considered one of the four legendary Piast princes, but is now considered as a ruler who existed as an historical person....
, who began the
Piast DynastyThe Piast dynasty was the first Polish historical Royal dynasty that ruled Poland from its beginnings starting with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historically undisputed Piast ruler is Mieszko I from 10th century...
, was chosen by a
wiecVeche was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries, and in late medieval period. Veche can be compared to the ecclesia of Classical Athens and other Old Greek polises....
. The
veche (
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
: вече,
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
: wiec) was a popular assembly in medieval
SlavicThe Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern and central Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
countries, and in late medieval period, a parliament. The idea of the
wiec led in 1182 to the development of the Polish parliament, the
SejmThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. Each member of Sejm is called Poseł.Before the 20th century, the term "Sejm" referred to the entire three-chamber Polish parliament, comprising the lower house , the upper house and the King. It was commonly termed a three-estate parliament...
.
The term "sejm" comes from an old
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
expression denoting a meeting of the populace. The power of early sejms grew between 1146–1295, when the power of individual rulers waned and various councils and wiece grew stronger. The history of the national Sejm dates back to 1182. Since the 14th century irregular sejms (described in various
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
sources as
contentio generalis, conventio magna, conventio solemna, parlamentum, parlamentum generale, dieta or Polish
sejm walny) have been called by Polish kings. From 1374, the king had to receive sejm permission to raise
taxTo tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law.Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es. The General Sejm (Polish
Sejm Generalny or
Sejm Walny), first convoked by the king John I Olbracht in 1493 near
PiotrkówPiotrków Trybunalski is a city in central Poland with 80,738 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , and previously was the capital of Piotrków Voivodeship...
, evolved from earlier regional and provincial meetings (
sejmikA sejmik was a regional assembly in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and earlier in the Kingdom of Poland. Sejmiks existed until the end of the Commonwealth in 1795 following the partitions of Poland...
s). It followed most closely the
sejmik generally, which arose from the 1454 Nieszawa Statutes, granted to the
szlachtaSzlachta is the noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the increasingly polonized territories under their control . The nobility arose in the late Middle Ages and existed through the 18th century and into the 20th century...
(nobles) by King Casimir IV the Jagiellonian. From 1493 forward, indirect elections were repeated every two years. With the development of the unique Polish
Golden LibertyGolden Liberty , sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth refers to a unique aristocratic political system in the Kingdom of Poland and later, after the Union of Lublin , in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
the Sejm's powers increased.
The
Commonwealth'sThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
general parliament consisted of three estates: the King of Poland (who also acted as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russia/Ruthenia, Prussia, Mazovia, etc.), the Senat (consisting of Ministers, Palatines, Castellans and Bishops) and the Chamber of Envoys—circa 170 nobles (
szlachtaSzlachta is the noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the increasingly polonized territories under their control . The nobility arose in the late Middle Ages and existed through the 18th century and into the 20th century...
) acting on behalf of their Lands and sent by Land Parliaments. Also representatives of selected cities but without any voting powers. Since 1573 at a royal election all peers of the
CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
could participate in the Parliament and become the King's electors.
Nordic and Germanic development
A
thingA thing or ting was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
or
ting (
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
and
IcelandicIcelandic is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Its closest relatives are Faroese and certain Norwegian dialects such as Telemark dialect and Sognamål....
:
þing; other modern Scandinavian:
ting,
ding in
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
) was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free men of the community and presided by
lawspeakerA lawspeaker is a unique Scandinavian legal office. It has its basis in a common Germanic oral tradition, where wise men were asked to recite the law, but it was only in Scandinavia that the function evolved into an office...
s. Today the term lives on in the official names of national legislatures, political and judicial institutions in the North-Germanic countries. In the
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as...
and former
DanelawThe Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon Law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
areas of England, which were subject to much Norse invasion and settlement, the wapentake was another name for the same institution.
The thing was the assembly of the free men of a country, province or a
hundredA hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
(hundare/härad/herred). There were consequently, hierarchies of things, so that the local things were represented at the thing for a larger area, for a province or land. At the thing, disputes were solved and political decisions were made. The place for the thing was often also the place for public religious rites and for commerce.
The thing met at regular intervals, legislated, elected chieftains and kings, and judged according to the law, which was memorized and recited by the "law speaker" (the judge).
Later national diets with chambers for different estates developed, e.g. in Sweden and in Finland (which was part of Sweden until 1809), each with a
House of KnightsHouse of Knights can refer to the following historical Nordic noble estate's assemblies:* Swedish House of Lords* Finnish House of Nobility...
for the nobility. In both these countries, the national parliaments are now called
riksdagThe Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
(in Finland also
eduskunta), a word used since the Middle Ages and equivalent of the German word
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
.
Russia
The name of the parliament of Russian Federation is the
Federal Assembly of RussiaThe Federal Assembly of Russia is the legislature of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution of Russian Federation, 1993...
. The term for its lower house,
DumaA Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed after the last Czar,...
(which is better known than the Federal Assembly itself, and is often mistaken for the entirety of the parliament) comes from the Russian word
думать (
dumat), "to think". The
Boyar Duma was an advisory council to the
grand princeThe title Grand Prince or Great Prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand Duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in...
s and tsars of Muscovy. The Duma was discontinued by
Peter the GreatPeter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov ruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V....
, who transferred its functions to the
Governing SenateThe Governing Senate was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of Russian Monarchs, instated by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Russian Empire. It was chaired by the Ober-Procurator...
in 1711.
Novgorod and Pskov
The
veche was the highest legislature and judicial authority in the republic of
NovgorodThe Novgorod Republic was a large mediæval Russian state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th centuries, centred on the city of Novgorod...
until 1478. In its sister state,
PskovPskov Republic was a Russian medieval state between the second half of the 13th century and early 16th century.-Origin:After the disintegration of Kievan Rus' in the 12th century, the city of Pskov with its surrounding territories along the Velikaya River, Lake Peipus, Pskovskoye Lake and Narva...
, a separate veche operated until 1510.
Since the Novgorod revolution of 1137 ousted the ruling
grand princeThe title Grand Prince or Great Prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand Duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in...
, the veche became the supreme state authority. After the reforms of 1410, the veche was restructured on a model similar to that of
VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
, becoming the Commons chamber of the parliament. Аn upper
SenateA senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature or parliament. There have been many such bodies in history, since senate means the assembly of the eldest and wiser members of the society and ruling class...
-like Council of Lords was also created, with title membership for all former city magistrates. Some sources indicate that veche membership may have became full-time, and parliament deputies were now called
vechniks. It is recounted that the Novgorod assembly could be summoned by anyone who rung the veche
bellA bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
, although it is more likely that the common procedure was more complex. This bell was a symbol of republican sovereignty and independence. The whole population of the city—boyars, merchants, and common citizens—then gathered at
Yaroslav's CourtYaroslav's Court was the princely compound in the city of Novgorod the Great. Today it is roughly the area around the Trade Mart, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Church of St. Procopius, and the Church of the Myrrh-bearing Women...
. Separate assemblies could be held in the districts of Novgorod. In Pskov the veche assembled in the court of the Trinity cathedral.
Spain
- Main article Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
Although there are documented councils held in 873, 1020, 1050 and 1063, there was no representation of commoners. What is considered to be the first Spanish Parliament (with the presence of commoners),
CortesThe Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
- was held in the
Kingdom of LeonKingdom of León was an independent country situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 AD when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their main seat from Oviedo to the city of León...
in 1118. Prelates, nobles and commoners met separately in the three estates of the Cortes. In this meeting new laws were approved to protect commoners against the arbitrarities of nobles, prelates and the king. This important set of laws is known as the "Carta Magna Leonesa"
Following this event, new Cortes would appear in the other different territories that would make up Spain:
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
in 1218, the
Kingdom of CastileKingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
in 1250,
Kingdom of AragonThe Kingdom of Aragon was an old kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon , in Spain...
in 1274,
Kingdom of ValenciaThe Christian Kingdom of Valencia , located in the Eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon...
in 1283 and
Kingdom of NavarreThe Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
in 1300.
After the union of the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile under the
Crown of CastileThe Crown of Castile, as a historic entity, is usually considered to have begun in 1230 with the third and almost definitive union of the monarchies of kingdoms Castile and Toledo in one hand, and the kingdoms of Leon and Galicia in other hand, and with the union of their parliaments a few decades...
, their Cortes were united as well in 1258. The Castilian Cortes had representatives from Burgos, Toledo, León, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, Guadalajara and Granada (after 1492). The Cortes' assent was required to pass new taxes, and could also advise the king on other matters. The comunero rebels intended a stronger role for the Cortes, but were defeated by the forces of
HabsburgHabsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
Emperor
Charles VCharles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I of Spain, of the Spanish realms from 1516 until his abdication in 1556...
in 1521. The Cortes maintained some power, however, though it became more of a consultative entity. However, by the time of
King Philip IIPhilip II was King of Spain and Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, during his wife Mary Tudor's reign, King of England and Ireland...
, Charles's son, the Castilian Cortes had come under functionally complete royal control, with its delegates dependent on the Crown for their income.
The Cortes of the
Crown of AragonThe Crown of Aragon was a permanent union of multiple titles and states in the hands of the King of Aragon.At the height of its power by the 14th and 15th centuries, the Crown of Aragon was a thalassocracy controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain, Southwestern France, as well as...
kingdoms retained their power to control the king's spending with regard to the finances of those kingdoms. But after the
War of the Spanish SuccessionThe War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, principally the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal, and the Duchy of Savoy, against the Kingdoms of France and Spain and the Electorate of Bavaria, over a possible unification of the Kingdoms of...
and the arrival of another royal house - the
BourbonsThe House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples & Sicily, and Parma...
- in 1714 with
Philip VPhilip V of Spain , fils de France and duc d'Anjou, was king of Spain from 1700 to 14 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son, Louis I of Spain, and from 31 August 1724 to 1746, assuming the throne again upon his son's death. Philip was the first Bourbon king of Spain...
, their Cortes were suppressed (as were those of
AragonAragon is an autonomous community of Spain. Located in northeastern Spain, the region comprises three provinces from north to south: Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza .Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees...
and Valencia in 1707,
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
and
Balearic islandsThe Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula....
in 1714).
Parliaments of the United Kingdom
The
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Parliament is often referred to as the
Mother of Parliaments (in fact a misquotation of
John BrightJohn Bright PC , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League...
, who remarked in 1865 that "England is the Mother of Parliaments") because the
British ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its
ActAn act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament....
s have created many other parliaments. Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British "three-tier" model. Most countries in Europe and the
CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values...
have similarly organized parliaments with a largely ceremonial
head of stateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state...
who formally opens and closes parliament, a large elected lower house and a smaller, upper house.
The Parliament of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
was originally formed in 1707 by the
Acts of UnionThe Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England to put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the...
that replaced the former parliaments of England and
ScotlandThe Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives The Parliament of...
—the Irish Parliament was subsumed into the Imperial Parliament in 1801.
In the United Kingdom, Parliament consists of the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members...
, the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons , and the Lords...
, and the
MonarchA monarch is the person who heads a monarchy, a form of government in which the country or entity usually ruled or controlled by an individual who usually rules for life or until abdication...
. The House of Commons is composed of 646 members who are directly elected by British (or Irish) citizens to represent single-member constituencies. The leader of a Party that wins more than half the seats or less than half but can count on support of smaller parties to achieve enough support to pass law is invited by the Queen to form a government. Legally the Queen is the head of government and no business in Parliament can be taken without her authority. The House of Lords is a body of long-serving, unelected members: 92 of whom inherit their seats and 574 of whom have been appointed to lifetime seats.
Legislation can originate from either the Lords or the Commons. It is voted on in several distinct stages, called
readingsReading is a mechanism by which a bill is introduced to, and approved by, a legislature.-Readings:For more details on the United Kingdom system see Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom#Stages of a bill-First reading:...
, in each house. First reading is merely a formality. Second reading is where the bill as a whole is considered. Third reading is detailed consideration of clauses of the bill.
In addition to the three readings a bill also goes through a committee stage where it is considered in great detail. Once the bill has been passed by one house it goes to the other and essentially repeats the process. If after the two sets of readings there are disagreements between the versions that the two houses passed it is returned to the first house for consideration of the amendments made by the second. If it passes through the amendment stage
Royal AssentThe granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of lawmaking by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. While the power to withhold Royal Assent was once exercised often, it is exceedingly rare in the modern, democratic...
is granted and the bill becomes law as an
Act of ParliamentAn act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament....
.
The House of Lords is the less powerful of the two houses as a result of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949. These Acts removed the veto power of the Lords over a great deal of legislation. If a bill is certified by the
Speaker of the House of CommonsIn the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, and is seen historically as the First Commoner of the Land. The present Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin.The Speaker...
as a
money billIn the Westminster system , a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending , as opposed to changes in public law.- Conventions :...
(i.e. acts raising taxes and similar) then the Lords can only block it for a month. If an ordinary bill originates in the Commons the Lords can only block it for a maximum of one session of Parliament. The exceptions to this rule are things like bills to prolong the life of a Parliament beyond five years. If a bill originates in the Lords then the Lords can block it for as long as they like.
In addition to functioning as the second chamber of Parliament, the House of Lords is also still the final court of
appealIn law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision.The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from country to country...
for much of the law of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
—a combination of judicial and legislative function that recalls its origin in the Curia Regis.
This will change in October 2009 when the
Supreme Court of the United KingdomThe Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Welsh law and Northern Irish law...
opens. Since 1999, there has been a
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" , is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
, which is a national, unicameral
legislatureA legislature is a type of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law...
for
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
List of parliaments
Contemporary national parliaments
- List is not exhaustive
- See also: list of national legislatures
Parliaments of the European Union
- European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
- Parliament of Austria
In the Parliament of Austria is vested the legislative power of the Republic of Austria. The institution consists of two chambers,* the National Council and* the Federal Council ....
- Belgian Federal Parliament
The Belgian Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate .- Chamber of Representatives :...
- National Assembly of Bulgaria
The National Assembly of Bulgaria is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of the Republic of Bulgaria.It was established in 1879 with the Bulgaria's constitution.-Ordinary National Assembly:...
- House of Representatives of Cyprus
The House of Representatives is the parliament of Cyprus. It has 59 members elected for a five year term, 56 members by proportional representation and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Latin and Armenian minorities...
- Parliament of the Czech Republic
The Parliament of the Czech Republic is the legislative body of the Czech Republic, based in Prague.It consists of two chambers, both directly-elected:* the Chamber of Deputies - lower house, more powerful one...
- Parliament of Denmark
- Parliament of Luxembourg
The Chamber of Deputies , abbreviated to the Chamber, is the unicameral national legislature of Luxembourg. 'Krautmaart' is sometimes used as a metonym for the Chamber, after the square on which the Hôtel de la Chambre is located....
- Parliament of Malta
The House of Representatives is the unicameral legislature of Malta. Formally, the Parliament of Malta consists of the President of Malta and the House of Representatives....
- National Assembly of the Republic of Poland
- Parliament of Estonia
The Riigikogu is the parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...
- Parliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , or the Riksdag , is the Parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in Parliament House in Helsinki.- Constitution :...
- Parliament of France
The French Parliament or Parliament of France is the deliberative and legislative branch of the Government of France. The current parliamentary system in France is bicameral, and the Parliament is composed of:...
(Parlement)
- Parliament of Germany - The Bundestag
The Bundestag is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag...
- Hellenic parliament
The Hellenic Parliament is the Parliament of Greece, located in the Parliament House , overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece...
(GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
)
- Hungarian National Assembly (Országgyűlés)
- Parliament of Ireland - the Oireachtas
The Oireachtas is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland, sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
- Parliament of Italy
The Parliament of Italy is the national parliament of Italy. It is a bicameral legislature with 945 elected members . The Chamber of Deputies, with 630 members is the lower house. The Senate of the Republic is the upper house and has 315 members .Since 2005, a Proportional System electoral law is...
(Parlamento Italiano)
- Parliament of Latvia
Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are held once every four years, on the first...
- Parliament of Lithuania
The Seimas is the Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...
- Parliament of the Netherlands
- Assembly of the Republic
The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...
(Portugal)
- Parliament of Romania
The Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers:*The Chamber of Deputies*The SenatePrior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses...
(consisting of the Chamber of DeputiesThe Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...
and the SenateThe Senate of Romania is the upper house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 137 seats , to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts , to serve four-year terms.After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Senate...
)
- Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
- National Council of the Slovak Republic
The National Council of the Slovak Republic...
- Slovenian Parliament
The Slovenian Parliament is the bicameral legislative body of Slovenia based in the capital Ljubljana.It has two chambers, the National Assembly and the National Council ....
- Cortes Generales of Spain
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
- Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
Others
- Croatian Parliament
- Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
- The federal (Commonwealth) government of Australia has a bicameral parliament, and each of Australia's six states
The Commonwealth of Australia is made up of six states and two major mainland territories. There are also lesser territories that are under the administration of the federal government.- States and Territories:+ Formerly part of ACT...
has a bicameral parliament except for QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, which has a unicameral parliament.
- Parliament of Bangladesh - Jatiyo Sangshad
Jatiyo Sangshad or National Assembly is the national parliament of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 345 seats including 45 women reserved seats distributed on elected party position in the parliament, the occupants of which are called Members of Parliament or MPs...
- Parliament of Barbados
The Parliament of Barbados is the supreme legislative body of the country of Barbados. The Parliament of Barbados is bicameral in structure with an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assembly....
- Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch represented by her Governor General the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
- The federal government of Canada has a bicameral parliament, and each of Canada's 10 provinces has a unicameral parliament.
- Parliament of the Faroe Islands (Løgtingið)
- Parliament of the Fiji Islands
- Parliament of Iceland
The Alþingi, Anglicized variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament—literally, " all-thing" —of Iceland...
(The Althing is one of the oldest still-acting parliaments in the worldWorld is a highly common name for the planet Earth, but it was originally used to mean the sum of human civilization living on it, specifically human experience, history, or the 'human condition' in general....
, established at Thingvellir in 930)
- Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the federal and supreme legislative body of India. It consists of the office of President of India and two houses, the lower house, known as the Lok Sabha and the upper house, known as the Rajya Sabha.. It is located in New Delhi at Sansad Bhavan on Sansad Marg...
consisting of Lok SabhaThe Lok Sabha is the directly elected lower house of the Parliament of India. As of 2009 there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
and Rajya SabhaThe Rajya Sabha is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature, science, and social services. These members are known as nominated members...
- Council of Representatives of Iraq
- Parliament of Lebanon
For the current list of Parliamentarians see Members of the 2009-2013 Lebanese ParliamentThe Parliament of Lebanon is the Lebanese national legislature. It is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and...
- Parliament of the Isle of Man - Tynwald
Tynwald , or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald is the bicameral legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council....
(Tinvaal) Tynwald is the oldest parliament in the world in continuous existence.
- Parliament of Israel - The Knesset
The Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Operation of the Knesset:...
- Parliament of Malaysia
The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system.The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara...
- Parliament of Montenegro
The Parliament of Montenegro is the unicameral legislature of Montenegro. The Parliament currently has 81 members, each elected for a four-year term. The current Speaker of the Parliament is Ranko Krivokapić, while the deputy speakers are Željko Šturanović and Rifat Rastoder...
- Parliament of Morocco
The Parliament of Morocco is located in Rabat, the capital of Morocco.- Composition :Since 1996, the national legislature has become bicameral and has therefore two parliamentary chambers:...
- Parliament of Nauru
The Parliament of Nauru has 18 members, elected for a three year term in multi-seat constituencies. The President of Nauru is elected by the members of the Parliament.The members of the Parliament of Nauru are elected by a positional voting system....
- Parliament of New Zealand
The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The House of Representatives is often referred to as "Parliament"....
- Parliament of Norway
The Parliament of Norway is located in the capital city Oslo. It sits in the Parliament of Norway Building which was completed in 1866 and was designed by the Swedish architect Emil Victor Langlet.- History :...
(Storting)
- Parliament of Pakistan
Majlis-e-Shoora is the federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan. It is bicameral federal legislature of Pakistan that consists of the Senate and the National Assembly...
- National Assembly of Serbia
The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia is the unicameral parliament of Serbia. The Parliament's Speaker is Slavica Đukić Dejanović since 25 June 2008.-History:The first Act of the National Assembly of Serbia was passed on October 28, 1858...
(Narodna Skupština)
- National Assembly of Thailand
The National Assembly of Thailand or the Parliament of Thailand is the legislative branch of the government of Thailand. The National Assembly of Thailand is a bicameral body, consisting of two chambers: the upper house, , and the lower house,...
- National Assembly of Wales
- National People's Congress
The National People's Congress , abbreviated NPC , is the highest state body and only legislative house in the People's Republic of China. The National People's Congress is held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China...
- Parliament of Singapore
The unicameral Parliament of Singapore is the legislature of Singapore with the President as its head. It currently consists of 84 Members of Parliament. Based on the concept of parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, it is supreme over all other government institutions and may change or...
- Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and is composed of the National Assembly of South Africa and the National Council of Provinces.It has undergone many transformations as a result of the country's tumultuous history...
- Spanish Cortes
- Parliament of Sri Lanka
The Parliament of Sri Lanka is a Unicameral 225-member legislature elected by universal suffrage and proportional representation for a six-year term. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws...
- Federal Assembly of Switzerland
The Federal Assembly , is Switzerland's federal parliament. It meets in Bern in the Bundeshaus....
(Bundesversammlung, Assemblée fédérale, Assemblea federale)
- Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago
The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. It consists of the elected House of Representatives, which has 41 members elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies, and the Senate which has 31...
- Parliament of Nepal
The Parliament of Nepal was dissolved by King Gyanendra in 2002, on the grounds that it was incapable of handling the Maoist rebels. The country's five main political parties have staged protests against the king, arguing that he must either call fresh elections or reinstate the elected legislature...
(recently reorganized)
- Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" , is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
Contemporary supranational parliaments
- Pan-African Parliament
The Pan-African Parliament, also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. The African Parliament held its inaugural session in March 2004. At present it exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, which will last for the first five years of...
- Central American Parliament
- Latin American Parliament
The Latin American Parliament , is a regional, permanent and unicameral organism, integrated from the national Parliaments of Latin America, elected democratically by means of universal suffrage in countries that ratified the corresponding Treaty of Institutionalization on November 16 1987 in Lima,...
- European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
Equivalent national legislatures
- Majlis
Majlis , is an Arabic term meaning "a place of sitting" used to describe various types of formal legislative assemblies in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries. Also it is the equivalent of the term legislature in some Islamic-culture states...
, e.g. in IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
- in Afghanistan
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
: Wolesi Jirga (elected, legislative lower house) and Meshrano Jirga (mainly advisory, indirect representation); in special cases, e.g. as constituent assembly, a Loya JirgaA Loya Jirga is a "grand assembly," a Pashto phrase meaning "grand council." A loya jirga is a political meeting usually used to choose new kings, adopt constitutions, or decide important political matters and disputes in Pashtuns areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, the loya jirga...
- in Indonesia : People's Consultative Assembly
The People's Consultative Assembly is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of the People's Representative Council and the Regional Representative Council. Before 2004, and the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was the highest governing...
, consists of People's Representative CouncilThe People's Representative Council , sometimes referred to as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected national legislative assemblies in Indonesia. Together with the Regional Representatives Council , a second chamber with limited powers, it makes up a third chamber, the People's...
(elected, legislative lower house) and Regional Representative Council (elected, legislative upper house with limited powers)
Defunct
- Parliament of Ireland
The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. It comprised two chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords...
(1297–1801)
- Parliament of Southern Ireland
The Parliament of Southern Ireland was set up during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, evolving out of the Home Rule Act 1914, to legislate for "Southern Ireland", a political entity envisaged by the British Government which never became fully functioned as...
(1921–1922)
- Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from 22 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
(1921–1973)
- People's Parliament
The term People's Parliament was used in 1940 for a puppet legislature put together after rigged show elections in order to legitimize the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union...
(1940s)
- Silesian Parliament
Silesian Parliament or Silesian Sejm was the governing body of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship, an autonomous voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic between 1920 and 1945. It was elected in democratic elections and had certain influence over the usage of taxes collected in Silesia...
(1922-1945)
Belgium
In the federal (bicameral) kingdom of
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, there is a curious asymmetrical constellation serving as directly elected legislatures for three "territorial" regions
—FlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands...
(DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
), BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
(bilingual, certain peculiarities of competence, also the only region not comprising any of the 10 provinces) and WalloniaWallonia , formally the Walloon Region , is the predominantly French-speaking southern region of Belgium. It makes up about 33% of the population and 55% of the territory of Belgium. Walloon Region is also the name given to the regional government of Wallonia...
(FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
)—and three cultural communities—Flemish (Dutch, competent in Flanders and for the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels), Francophone (French, for Wallonia and for Francophones in Brussels) and German (for speakers of that language in a few designated municipalities in the east of the Walloon Region, living alongside Francophones but under two different regimes)
- Vlaams Parliament ("Flemish Parliament
The Flemish Parliament constitutes the legislative power in Flanders, for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and a cultural community of Belgium.The Flemish Parliament approves decrees, which are Flemish laws, applicable to all persons in the Flemish...
"; originally styled Vlaamse Raad "Flemish Council") served both the Flemish Community (whose same it uses) and, in application of a Belgian constitutional option, of the region of Flanders (in all matters of regional competence, its decisions have no effect in Brussels)
- Parliament of the French Community
- parliament of the German Community
The Parliament of the German-speaking Community is the legislative assembly of the German-speaking Community of Belgium based in Eupen....
- parliament of the Walloon region
The Walloon Parliament , is the Parliament of the Walloon Region , one of the self-governed Region of Belgium with Flanders and Brussels-Capital Region, in Namur, at the symbolic confluence of the Meuse and the Sambre the two main rivers of the most inhabited part of the country, the Sillon...
- parliament of the Brussels 'capital' region
The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region , is the governing body of the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium...
;
- within the capital's regional assembly however, there also exist two so-called Community Commissions (fixed numbers, not an automatic repartition of the regional assembly), a Dutch-speaking one
The Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie is the local representative of the Flemish authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium...
and a Francophone oneThe Commission communautaire française is the local representative of the French-speaking authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium....
, for various matters split up by linguistic community but under Brussels' regional competence, and even 'joint community commissions' consisting of both for certain institutions that could be split up but are not.
United Kingdom
- Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
- Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" , is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
- Welsh Assembly
See also
- Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of representatives from different countries , or independent organizations ....
- Delegated legislation
In the United Kingdom, delegated legislation is legislation or law that is passed otherwise than in an Act of Parliament . Instead, an enabling Act confers a power to make delegated legislation on a Government Minister or another person or body...
- Global democracy
- Government
A government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
- History of democracy
Democracy is a political system in which all the members of the society have an equal share of formal political power. In modern representative democracy, this formal equality is embodied primarily in the right to vote...
- Inter-Parliamentary Union
The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization established in 1889 by William Randal Cremer and Frédéric Passy . It was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations...
- Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it. The term may refer to a single law, or the collective body of enacted law, while "statute" is also used to refer to a single law...
- Parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies...
- Parliamentary records
-Oldest:The oldest recorded parliament still in existence is the Althing, the ruling legislative body of Iceland. It was founded in 930 and originally consisted of 39 local chieftains. Abolished in 1800 it was restored by Denmark in 1843....
- Witan
External links