House of Commons

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As lower house or second chamber ( English House of Commons , or lower house , French chambre basse ) is called in a two-chamber system mostly those chamber of parliament , the general, elected by the citizens parliament is (also civil or Chamber of Deputies ). The first chamber opposing it is thus the upper house , which historically was mostly a representation of the estates such as the nobility or clergy and is now often a representation of the member states (Land Chamber).

term

Historical

Since historically the nobility mostly played the more influential role in politics than the common people, the upper house was described as more important and thus further up ( upper house) or further up ( first chamber). The representative body thus played a subordinate role.

Political science

In political science , on the other hand, a different (diametrically opposite) definition is sometimes used to describe modern two-chamber systems: The type of parliamentary chamber described here is referred to as the first chamber, since the lower house is usually the more powerful chamber these days. In addition to the historical upper houses described above, the characteristics listed here are that this second chamber is usually more disproportionately occupied than the other chamber in order to better represent certain interests. These are often of a regional or federal nature. For this reason, bicameral systems exist mainly in territorial states.

history

Modern parliaments did not emerge in Germany and many other European countries until the early 19th century. It was common in the monarchies of early constitutionalism for parliament to have two chambers. The second chamber, usually mentioned, was usually elected by the people, which only meant rich, male citizens. The first chamber, however, was mostly reserved for the nobility and clergy ( upper house ). Their members were automatically chamber members due to their feudal position or they were appointed by the monarch .

The actual political controversy either took place from the beginning in the second chamber or this state of affairs arose over time. The voting limits for the second chamber were gradually reduced, although universal suffrage for men and women was introduced almost everywhere only after the First World War . If the first chamber is also opened soon for new voters and candidates, the question of the meaning of the two-chamber system arises again. Unlike the second, the first chamber is therefore usually not formed by direct popular elections. The first chamber can represent the regions of the country, while the second represents the national representation of the state people as a whole.

Situation in Germany

In Germany there were many parliaments in the individual German states, especially in the larger, two-chamber systems. After the Second World War , only Bavaria with its Senate (until 1998) had a two-chamber system, since then the one-chamber system has been fully implemented in the federal states. In terms of name and function, the state parliaments are the former second chambers.

The same applies to the federal level in Germany. German constitutional law does not see the Bundesrat as a chamber, in Germany only the Bundestag is called parliament. In terms of political science and for international comparison, on the other hand, the Federal Council can certainly be viewed as a chamber; accordingly, the Bundestag would take the position of a lower house.

Examples

Other examples of existing lower houses are the British House of Commons , the Swiss National Council , the United States House of Representatives , the French National Assembly , the Second Chamber of the Dutch States General , the House of Representatives of the Czech Parliament, the Indian Lok Sabha and the Canadian House of Commons .

Historic parliaments with the self-designation second chamber

See also

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: House of Commons  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Russell, Meg. 2001. “What are Second Chambers for?” Parliamentary Affairs 54 (3). P. 444.