Unicameral Legislature

[dimpy.handa]

Time for reflection is important in the creation of laws. A lack of reflection often results in rashly-made, knee-jerk legislation. This is even worse when the executive is drawn from the majority group in the legislature, as in the UK or Israel, meaning that there is no check on rule-making. Having two houses also brings different perspectives to the process of scrutiny, as their members are often chosen in quite different ways, e.g. in the UK the House of Commons is elected, the House of Lords appointed or hereditary; in the USA and Germany, the lower house is elected by popular vote while the upper house represents the interests of different states.

 

[swatiraohnlu]

Unicameral legislatures are also common in Communist states such as the People's Republic of China and Cuba. Similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Russia and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures after the fall of Communism. The socialist viewpoint regards upper houses as typically conservative and representing the interests of the upper classes.

The principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of legislative deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it reduces costs, as even if the number of legislators is the same as it would be in a multicameral system, there are fewer institutions to maintain and support.