Questions tagged [legislature]
Questions about legislative bodies.
18
questions
43
votes
9answers
16k views
What would stop a representative democracy becoming a dictatorship?
In a representative democracy, those elected pass laws for the country. If a political party had a majority in the relevant legislature(s), could that party use its majority to write a law that ...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
Could Boris Johnson theoretically ignore any legislation passed to prevent no-deal brexit?
The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has clearly set out his position in that he wishes to leave the EU on 31st October with or without a deal. I.e if further negotiations with the EU do not result ...
12
votes
5answers
2k views
What European countries have secret voting within the Legislature?
Most, if not all, democratic countries in Europe elect representatives to the national legislature by some form of secret ballot. For example the UK uses secret election on the first-past-the-post ...
9
votes
4answers
648 views
How common is pairing?
This question introduced me to an interesting legislative behavior called pairing. In some legislatures, when a member of one party is unable to vote the opposing party may decide to ask one of their ...
6
votes
5answers
2k views
Why do legislative committees exist?
Why do legislatures give a tiny subset of their members veto power over a bill? Isn't that undemocratic? Why can't they simply debate and vote on every bill introduced as a whole?
6
votes
3answers
2k views
Why do bills with a veto-proof majority in Congress go to the President?
If a bill receives a veto-proof vote in Congress, why does it go to the President to sign or veto, only to go back to Congress in the case of a veto, instead of immediately becoming law? The ...
6
votes
1answer
199 views
Do any legislative branches besides the US have a tradition of voluntarily requiring more than 50% of the votes to pass a law?
In the US Senate there's a peculiar tradition where 60 out of 100 votes are required to overcome filibuster, even though constituonally speaking 51 votes (or 50 votes plus the vice president's tie ...
6
votes
1answer
125 views
Do Senate committees really ever interview low-level nominees?
Does the United States Senate actually take the time to interview low level nominees like nominees for low military general ranks (Brig. General) or really specific roles that require senate ...
5
votes
2answers
224 views
Do any democratic countries have mechanisms to prevent one party from dominating for an extended period?
Is there any country that has constitutional or national law that prevents any party from holding an absolute majority for too long?
Examples of various ways how it can be implemented:
If a party ...
5
votes
2answers
622 views
What powers does an individual member of the House of Representatives have?
Once a person is sworn in as a Representative in the lower chamber of the US Congress (the House of Representatives), s/he has some obvious powers:
To vote for and against any legislation brought ...
3
votes
3answers
237 views
Are there any legislature that has a seat-switch system similar to the NI Assembly?
The Northern Ireland Assembly has a "seat-switch system" (co-option) that allows for MLAs to be replaced without holding by-elections.
As the BBC explains:
Co-option is the only option when there ...
3
votes
1answer
71 views
In India, can cabinet ministers vote in the house that they are not part of?
Cabinet ministers are allowed to visit either of the houses - Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha - to discuss and debate the various bills. After the discussion when the bill goes to the division of votes, do ...
3
votes
0answers
88 views
Does Ireland's Dáil have an unusually high number of independents, compared to other European legislatures?
I noticed that the 4th largest "party" in the current Dáil are independents with 19/160 seats. Is this proportion high (or not) in broader European perspective in national legislatures?
2
votes
1answer
194 views
If the Capitol weren't available, where would Congress hold votes?
Suppose that a meteor strikes the Capitol building in the middle of the night. No one is close enough to be hurt, but the building is destroyed and totally unusable. Where would Congress hold its ...
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Is there a (reasonably) world-wide quantitative survey of malapportionment in legislative chambers?
By malapportionment I mean the non-proportional allocation of representatives to population by geographical units.
Wikipedia has a rather terrible article on the topic, which, while enumerating and ...
1
vote
1answer
98 views
Why do some states in India have a unicameral legislature and some have a Bicameral one?
I recently learnt that some states in India have a Bicameral legislature whereas some others have a Unicameral legislature. Why is this so?
FYI: The Parliament of India (at the national level) ...
1
vote
1answer
150 views
Anti defection law, India
Anti-defection law of India states that "A legislator is deemed to have defected if he either voluntarily gives up the membership of his party or disobeys the directives of the party leadership on a ...
1
vote
1answer
383 views
With Law-making powers what are the arguments for and against a Bicameral Welsh Parliament
The Welsh Parliament (currently National Assembly for Wales) / Senedd Cymru (currently Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) currently has law-making powers covering the areas of devolved responsibility what ...
