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Nov 27th 2012
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Best Governmental Body of All Time

This type is for legislative and executive bodies that make up a government. This type should not be used for legislative committees, government agencies, departments, etc. The properties of this type include:Component bodies: if a governmental body, such as a bicameral legislature, is composed of more than one legislative body, enter them here. Do not enter the names of committees here; enter them in the "committees" property, below.Body this is a component of: the reverse property of "component bodies"; enter the name of the body this belongs to (if any). Members: anyone, past or present, who has served on this body. (Typically, you would only enter members in the most specific government body; e.g., members of the UK Parliament would be entered either in the House of Lords or House of Commons, not the UK Parliament itself.) See the help topic Entering information about elected officials and public servants for more information.Jurisdiction: the area over which this body has jurisdictionCommittees: any committees formed by this body.Sessions: individual sessions held by this body.

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1

Legislative Assembly of Kyrgyzstan

Jurisdiction: Kyrgyzstan

The Legislative Assembly of Kyrgyzstan (Myizam Chygaruu Jyiyny) was one of the two chambers of the Supreme Council. The Assembly had 60 members who are elected to five year terms, 45 in single-seat constituencies and 15 by proportional representation. In the constitutional revision, the Council was unicameralized.

0 comments

7.29

7 votes

2

Federal Council of Austria

Jurisdiction: Austria
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Austria

The Federal Council (German: Bundesrat (pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁaːt]) is the second chamber of the Austrian parliament, representing the nine States of Austria (Bundesländer) on federal level. As part of a bicameral legislature alongside of the National Council of Austria (Nationalrat), it can be compared with an upper house or a senate. In fact, however, it is far less powerful than the National Council: although it has to approve every new law decided for by this "lower" chamber, the latter can - in most cases - overrule the Bundesrat´s refusal to approve. The Bundesrat has its seat at the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna, in a conclave of the former Herrenhaus chamber of the Imperial Council (Reichsrat). The 62 members of the Federal Council (Bundesräte) are elected according to proportional representation by each of the Austrian states' legislatures (Landtage) for 4- to 6-year terms. The composition of the Bundesrat therefore changes after every state election and the distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage. The second largest faction of the particular Landtag has the right to designate at least one deputy. The number of representatives delegated by each Bundesland

0 comments

7.50

6 votes

3

Seanad Éireann

Jurisdiction: Ireland
Body this is a component of: Oireachtas

Seanad Éireann (Irish pronunciation: [ˈʃan̪ˠəd̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ]; English: Senate of Ireland) is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members senators (seanadóirí in Irish, singular: seanadóir). Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by various methods. Its powers are much weaker than those of the Dáil and it can only delay laws with which it disagrees, rather than veto them outright. It has been located, since its establishment, in Leinster House. The programme of the government formed in March 2011 promises to abolish the Seanad as part of a broader programme of constitutional reform. Seanad Éireann consists of sixty senators: Under the Constitution of Ireland the general election for the Seanad must occur not later than 90 days after the dissolution of Dáil Éireann. The election occurs under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (however in the panel constituencies each vote counts as 1000 meaning fractions of votes can be transferred).

0 comments

9.75

4 votes

4

Senate of Chile

Jurisdiction: Chile
Body this is a component of: National Congress of Chile

The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of thirty-eight directly elected senators, chosen by universal popular suffrage vote in 19 senatorial circumscriptions. These serve eight-year terms, with half of them being replaced every fourth year. They must be eligible to vote, have completed secondary school, or its equivalent, and be at least 35 years old. The Senate sessions at the new (1990) National Congress located in the port city of Valparaíso that replaced the old National Congress located in downtown Santiago, the nation's capital. Amendments to the Constitution, approved by a joint session of Congress on August 16, 2005, eliminated non-directly elected senators from March 11, 2006, the day 20 newly-elected senators were sworn in, leaving the total number of senators at 38, all directly elected. Previously, according to the Constitution of 1980, "designated" or "institutional" senators were appointed to the chamber. Two former heads of state, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Augusto Pinochet, were installed

0 comments

7.33

6 votes

5

Leeds City Council

Jurisdiction: Leeds

Leeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the area of the County Borough of Leeds was combined with those of the Municipal Borough of Morley, the Municipal Borough of Pudsey, Aireborough Urban District, Horsforth Urban District, Otley Urban District, Garforth Urban District, Rothwell Urban District and parts of Tadcaster Rural District, Wetherby Rural District and Wharfedale Rural District from the West Riding. The new Leeds district was one of five metropolitan districts in West Yorkshire. It was granted a borough and city status to become the City of Leeds. Until 1986 the city council was a second-tier authority, with West Yorkshire County Council providing many key services. However, the metropolitan county councils were abolished under the Local Government Act 1985 and the council took responsibility for all former County Council functions except policing, fire services and public transport which continue to be run on a joint basis by councillors from the former boroughs of

0 comments

7.17

6 votes

6

Parliament of Botswana

Jurisdiction: Botswana
Component bodies: House of Chiefs of Botswana

The Parliament of Botswana consists of the President and the National Assembly. In contrast to other Parliamentary systems, the Parliament elects the President directly (instead of having both a ceremonial President and a Prime Minister who has real authority as head of government) for a set five year term of office. There are no term limits. The President is both head of State and of Government in Botswana's parliamentary republican system. The current President of Botswana is Ian Khama, who assumed the Presidency on 1 April, 2008 and won a full five year term in the postceding Botswana General elections, which were held on 16 October 2009 and returned his Botswana Democratic Party with a majority of 35 (total of 45) seats in the 61 seat Parliament. Botswana is the only nation on the African continent since the end of colonial rule to have achieved a clean record of free and fair elections since independence, having held 10 elections since 1966 without any serious incidents of corruption. Botswana is considered to be, along with post apartheid South Africa, the most democratic nation in Africa.

0 comments

6.14

7 votes

7

Riigikogu

Jurisdiction: Estonia

The Riigikogu (from riigi-, of the state, and kogu, assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu. In addition to approving legislation, the Riigikogu appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and elects (either alone or, if necessary, together with representatives of local government within a broader electoral college) the President. The Riigikogu also ratifies significant foreign treaties that impose military and proprietary obligations, bring about changes in law, etc.; approves the budget presented by the government as law and monitors the executive power. April 23, 1919, the opening session of the Estonian Constituent Assembly is the birthday of the Estonian Parliament. The first elections to the Riigikogu took place in 1920. From 1920 to 1938, there were five more elections to the Riigikogu, but several were on the basis of different constitutions. In 1920–1923 there was a closed list, while from 1926 to 1934 there was an optional open list choice. The basis of election was until 1932 proportional representation. The elections were on a regional basis,

0 comments

6.83

6 votes

8

House of Representatives of Puerto Rico

Jurisdiction: Puerto Rico
Body this is a component of: Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico (Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico) is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House is usually composed of 51 senators, representing forty constituent representative districts across the commonwealth, with one representative elected per district; an additional eleven representatives are elected at-large. Whenever the minority party elects less than 9 representatives, Puerto Rico's Constitution provides for the enlargement of the body through the recognition of "add-on" representatives, who become representatives "at-large". The House of Representatives, along with its members and staff, are housed in the western half of the Capitol Building, the Ernesto Ramos Antonini House Annex Building, the Antonio R. Barceló Building, and the Luis A. Ferré Building. Created in 1900 as the House of Delegates under the Foraker Act, the lower body of the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly was the only elected body until the Senate was created in 1917 under the Jones-Shafroth Act, creating a bicameral legislature. The House of Delegates was controlled by the Republican Party from its

0 comments

9.00

4 votes

9

Italian Chamber of Deputies

Jurisdiction: Italy
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Italy

The Chamber of Deputies (Italian: Camera dei Deputati) is a house of the bicameral Parliament of Italy (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to article 56 the Italian Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 12 from Italian citizens living abroad. Currently, a plurality of seats is controlled by the liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio, and a member of the Chamber of Deputies has the style of onorevole (honourable). Its current president (i.e. its speaker) is Gianfranco Fini, the leader of the Future and Freedom party. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is the Palazzo Montecitorio, where it has met since 1871, shortly after the capital of the Kingdom of Italy was moved to Rome. The previous seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy was the Palazzo Carignano in Torino (1861–1865) and the Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze (1865–1871). During the fascist regime, from 1939 to 1943, the Chamber of Deputies was abolished and

0 comments

6.67

6 votes

10

Congress of Colombia

Jurisdiction: Colombia
Body this is a component of: Senate of Colombia

The Congress of the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: Congreso de la República de Colombia) is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature. The Congress of Colombia consists of the 102-seat Senate (Senado), and the 166-seat Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes). Members of both houses are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The Congress meets twice a year in two ordinary sessions: The first from July 20 to December 16, and the second from March 16 to June 20. The Executive branch can call for extraordinary sessions at any time, but never after June 20 in an election year. Every year on July 20 the congress also internally elects the President of Congress. Both houses of Congress meet at the neoclassical Capitolio Nacional ("National Capitol") building in central Bogotá, the construction of which began in 1847 and was not concluded until 1926. Every house has its own election procedure and individual powers that make them different from each other, which are further discussed in the article for each individual chamber. The Senate has 102 elected members for four-year terms. According to the Colombian Constitution, 100 senators (senador(es))

0 comments

7.60

5 votes

11

United States Department of Commerce

The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. The mission of the department is to "promote job creation and improved living standards for all Americans by creating an infrastructure that promotes economic growth, technological competitiveness, and sustainable development". Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making, issuing patents and trademarks, and helping to set industrial standards. The Department of Commerce headquarters is the Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. The department was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903. It was subsequently renamed the Department of Commerce on March 4, 1913, and its bureaus and agencies specializing in labor were transferred to the new Department of Labor. The United States Patent and Trademark Office was transferred from the Interior Department into Commerce, and the Federal Employment Stabilization Office existed within the department from 1931 to 1939. In 1940, the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) was

0 comments

7.60

5 votes

12

Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives

Jurisdiction: Belgium
Body this is a component of: Belgian Federal Parliament

The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers (help·info), French: la Chambre des Représentants, German: Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Article 62 of the Belgian Constitution fixes the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives at 150. There are 11 electoral districts, which correspond with the Provinces, except in Flemish Brabant, which is divided into two electoral districts: Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde and Leuven. The number of seats for each electoral district is proportional to its population. All electoral districts have an electoral threshold of 5%, except for the electoral districts of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, Leuven and Walloon Brabant. The Court of Arbitration annulled the electoral threshold in those constituencies after a complaint by the Christian Democratic and Flemish, New Flemish Alliance and Flemish Interest parties. There are 10 monolingual (5 Dutch and 5 French-speaking) electoral districts. Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde is the only bilingual electoral district as it encompasses

0 comments

8.75

4 votes

13

House of Keys

Jurisdiction: Isle of Man
Body this is a component of: Tynwald

The House of Keys (Manx: Kiare as Feed) is the directly elected lower branch of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council. The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written by an English scholar in Latin, which refers to Claves Mann and Claves Legis ("The Keys of Mann" and "The Keys of Law"). There is a dispute, however, over the origin of the name. The word "keys" is thought by some to be an English corruption of the Norse word kjósa meaning "chosen". However a more likely explanation is that it is a mishearing of the Manx-language term for "four and twenty", kiare as feed (pronounced kee-air...), the House having always had 24 members. The Manx-language name of the House of Keys remains Yn Chiare as Feed ("The Four and Twenty"). Members are known as Members of the House of Keys, (MHKs). Citizens over the age of 16 may vote, while one must be at least 21 years old and a resident of the Island for three years to be elected. There are 15 constituencies, based on the sheadings and other local government units. There are currently two 3-member constituencies, five 2-member constituencies and eight 1-member

0 comments

8.75

4 votes

14

National Assembly of Guyana

Jurisdiction: Guyana

The National Assembly is the parliament of Guyana. The National Assembly has a total of sixty five (65) members elected using the system of proportional representation. Twenty five are elected from the ten (10) geographical constituencies and forty (40) are awarded at the national level on the basis of block votes secured, using the LR-Hare Formula as prescribed by the elections Laws (Amendment) Act 15 of 2000 (Sections 11 and 12). Hari Narayen Ramkarran was elected as Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana in 2001, re-elected on September 28, 2006. The life of the Ninth Parliament came to an end in September 2011 before the holding of the 2011 General Elections. The Tenth Parliament of Guyana is now sitting. The first sitting of the Tenth Parliament was held on January 12, 2012 at 2:00 pm following a Proclamation to that effect from His Excellency President Donald Ramotar. The first sitting of the Tenth Parliament was dedicated towards the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and the administering of the Oath of Office to the MPs. The President therefore did not address the National Assembly, and the ceremonial opening of the Tenth Parliament is still to occur. Mr.

0 comments

8.75

4 votes

15

National People's Assembly of Guinea-Bissau

Jurisdiction: Guinea-Bissau

The unicameral National People's Assembly (Portuguese: Assembleia Nacional Popular) is Guinea-Bissau's legislative body. The current National People's Assembly, formed following elections held on 28 March 2004, has a total of 102 seats. 100 members are elected through a system of party-list proportional representation. The remaining two seats are reserved for Guinea-Bissau citizens living overseas, but they were not filled in the most recent election. Members serve five-year terms. Political party distribution in the current National People's Assembly is as follows: Fourteen women occupy seats in the National People's Assembly. Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo is the interim president of the National People's Assembly.

0 comments

8.75

4 votes

16

Parliament of Morocco

Jurisdiction: Morocco
Component bodies: Assembly of Councillors

The Parliament of Morocco is located in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Since 1996, the national legislature has become bicameral and has therefore two parliamentary chambers: The Members of Parliament come from Morocco and the Moroccan-held parts of Western Sahara (under Moroccan law treated as the Southern Provinces). Part of the reserve powers, the head of State (in this case the King of Morocco) has the right to dissolve the Parliament. In the past, during the "years of lead" under King Hassan II, this right was used extensively, along with suspensions and extensions of terms. Thus, until 1997, not a single elected Parliament was able to complete its term under normal circumstances. The role of Parliament, and the respect of the monarchy for its integrity, has increased considerably since 1999, when Mohammed VI took the throne. However, the power of Parliament is still being limited as it is the King who appoints the prime minister and on proposition from the latter, the members of government.

0 comments

8.75

4 votes

17

South Australian House of Assembly

Jurisdiction: South Australia
Body this is a component of: Parliament of South Australia

The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. As of the 2010 election, the lower house consists of 26 Labor, 18 Liberal and 3 independent. The House of Assembly was created in 1857, when South Australia attained self-government. The development of an elected legislature—although only men could vote—marked a significant change from the prior system, where power had been concentrated in the hands of the Governor and the Legislative Council, which was appointed by the Governor. In 1894, the House of Assembly granted women the right to vote—the second place in the world to do so after New Zealand in 1893, and the first to allow them to stand for election. The House of Assembly has had 47 members since 1970, each coming from a single-member constituency. These are commonly known as seats, and are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by instant runoff voting with complete preference allocation, as with the equivalent federal chamber, the Australian House of Representatives. All members

0 comments

8.50

4 votes

18

National Congress of Bolivia

Jurisdiction: Bolivia
Component bodies: Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia

The Plurinational Legislative Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional) is the national legislature of Bolivia, based in the nation's de facto capital, La Paz. The assembly is bicameral, consisting of a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies or Cámara de Diputados) and an upper house (the Senate, or Cámara de Senadores). The Senate has 36 seats. Each of the country's nine departments returns four senators elected by proportional representation (D'Hondt) (Until 2009 the Senate had 27 seats: three seats per department: two from the party or formula that receives the most votes, with the third senator representing the second-placed party.) Senators are elected from party lists to serve five-year terms, and the minimum age to hold a Senate seat is 35 years. The Chamber of Deputies comprises 130 seats: 77 deputies are elected to represent single-member electoral districts, and an additional 53 are elected by proportional representation from party lists on a departmental basis. Deputies also serve five-year terms, and must be aged at least 25 on the day of the election. For the 2005 general election, seats were reapportioned, making 70 single-member electoral districts (60 are

0 comments

9.67

3 votes

19

National People's Congress

Jurisdiction: China

The National People's Congress (simplified Chinese: 全国人民代表大会; traditional Chinese: 全國人民代表大會; pinyin: Quánguó Rénmín Dàibiǎo Dàhuì; literally "National People's Representatives Congress"), abbreviated NPC (Chinese: 人大; pinyin: Rén-Dà), is the highest state body and the unicameral 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; with 2,987 members, it is the largest parliament in the world. The NPC gathers each year along with the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) whose members represent various defined groups of society. NPC and CPPCC together are often called the Lianghui (Two Meetings), making important national level political decisions. In theory, the NPC is vested with great lawmaking powers. However, for most of its existence, it has acted as a nearly powerless rubber-stamp legislature, ratifying decisions that have already been made by the Communist Party of China and the country's executive organs. This has long been typical of legislatures in Communist countries. Since the 1990s, the NPC has become a forum for mediating policy

0 comments

8.25

4 votes

20

National Parliament of the Solomon Islands

Jurisdiction: Solomon Islands

The National Parliament of Solomon Islands has 50 members, elected for a four year term in 50 single-seat constituencies. It is presided by a Speaker - currently Sir Allan Kemakeza. The official website of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands maintains a list of current Members of Parliament, with biographical indications, categorised by name, constituency and party. See:

0 comments

7.00

5 votes

21

Parliament of Northern Ireland

Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
Component bodies: Senate 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 sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended with the introduction of Direct Rule. It was subsequently abolished under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. The Parliament of Northern Ireland was bicameral, consisting of a House of Commons with 52 seats, and an indirectly-elected Senate with 26 seats. The Sovereign was represented by the Governor (initially by the Lord Lieutenant), who granted Royal Assent to Acts of Parliament in Northern Ireland, but executive power rested with the Prime Minister, the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons. The House of Commons had 52 members, of which 48 were for territorial seats and four were for graduates of Queen's University, Belfast (until 1969, when the four university seats were replaced by an additional 4 territorial seats). The Government of Ireland Act prescribed that elections to the House of Commons should be by single transferable vote (STV), though the Parliament was given power to alter the electoral system from three years after its first meeting. The STV

0 comments

7.00

5 votes

22

Senate of Nigeria

Jurisdiction: Nigeria
Body this is a component of: Nigerian National Assembly

The Senate is the upper house of the National Assembly of Nigeria. It consists of 109 senators: the 36 states are each divided in 3 senatorial districts each electing one senator; the Federal Capital Territory elects only one senator. The President of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Senate, whose chief function is to guide and regulate the proceedings in the Senate. The current Senate President is Sen. David Mark of the People's Democratic Party. The lower house is the House of Representatives.

0 comments

7.00

5 votes

23

United States Securities and Exchange Commission

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (frequently abbreviated SEC) is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States. In addition to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that created it, the SEC enforces the Securities Act of 1933, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 and other statutes. The SEC was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (now codified as 15 U.S.C. § 78d and commonly referred to as the 1934 Act). The SEC was established by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934 as an independent, quasi-judicial regulatory agency during the Great Depression that followed the Crash of 1929. The main reason for the creation of the SEC was to regulate the stock market and prevent corporate abuses relating to the offering and sale of securities and corporate reporting. The SEC was given the power to license and regulate stock exchanges, the companies whose

0 comments

9.33

3 votes

24

Jacksonville City Council

Jurisdiction: Jacksonville

The Jacksonville City Council is the legislative governing body of the city of Jacksonville, Florida. The Jacksonville City Council is composed of nineteen members who are elected to four-year terms and serve as part-time legislators. In May of each year the Council elects a President and Vice President to serve one-year terms beginning the first of July. The nineteen members are not all elected in the same manner; some are elected from districts, and others are elected at large. However, once elected, there is no distinction between council members elected at-large and from regular districts. Both have equal rights and responsibilities. The city is divided into 14 districts; each of these districts elects a single council member who resides in the district. Like virtually all legislative districts at all levels in United States, these districts are redrawn every ten years following the decennial census. In Jacksonville, since reapportionment of the 1990s, four of these districts have been gerrymandered to increase the likelihood of electing an African-American council person. In the early 1990s, voters approved an unusual residency requirement for "at-large" members. The county

0 comments

8.00

4 votes

25

New York City Council

Jurisdiction: New York City

The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and makes land use decisions as well as legislating on a variety of other issues. The City Council also has sole responsibility for approving the city budget and each member is limited to three consecutive terms in office and can run again after a four year respite. The head of the City Council is called the Speaker, and is currently Christine Quinn, a Democrat. The Speaker sets the agenda and presides at meetings of the City Council. Proposed legislation is submitted through the Speaker's Office. There are 47 Democratic council members led by Majority Leader Joel Rivera. The four Republican council members are led by Minority Leader James Oddo. The Council has 35 committees with oversight of various functions of the city government. Each council member sits on at least three standing, select or subcommittees (listed below). The standing committees meet at least once per month. The Speaker of the

0 comments

8.00

4 votes

26

Argentine National Congress

Jurisdiction: Argentina
Component bodies: Argentine Senate

The Congress of the Argentine Nation (Spanish: Congreso de la Nación Argentina) is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Congress building is located in Buenos Aires, at the western end of Avenida de Mayo (at the other end of which is located the Casa Rosada). The Kilometre Zero for all Argentine National Highways is marked on a milestone at the Congressional Plaza, next to the building. The Argentine National Congress is bicameral, composed of the Argentine Senate and the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. The ordinary sessions span is from March 1 to November 30; the President of Argentina is entitled to convene extraordinary sessions during the recess, if needed. Senators and deputies enjoy parliamentary immunity during their mandates, which may be revoked by their peers if a senator or deputy is caught in flagrante, in the midst of committing a crime. The Congress is in charge of setting taxes and customs, which must be uniform across the country. It rules the Central Bank of Argentina, manages internal and external debt payment, and the value of national currency

0 comments

6.80

5 votes

27

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Jurisdiction: Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (also known as Ontario Legislative Assembly or Ontario Legislature), is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada. It is located in the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park in Toronto. The British North America Act section 69 stipulates "There shall be a Legislature for Ontario consisting of the Lieutenant-Governor and of One House, styled the Legislative Assembly of Ontario". The Legislative Assembly is unicameral, without an upper house, with 107 seats representing ridings elected through a first-past-the-post electoral system across the province. The Legislative Assembly is informally known as the "Ontario Provincial Parliament". This is because unlike the other Canadian provinces, members of the assembly refer to themselves as "Members of the Provincial Parliament" (MPPs) as opposed to "Members of the Legislative Assembly" (MLAs) as in many other provinces. Ontario is the only province to do so, in accordance with a resolution passed in the Assembly on April 7, 1938. However, the Legislative Assembly Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L10 refers only to "members of the

0 comments

6.80

5 votes

28

National Congress of Chile

Jurisdiction: Chile
Component bodies: Senate of Chile

The National Congress (Spanish: Congreso Nacional) of Chile is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile. The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4, 1811. It is a bicameral legislature comprised by the Chamber of Deputies (lower house), of 120 members and by the Senate (upper house), formed by 38 parliamentarians. The organisation of Congress and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of the current constitution and by the Constitutional Organic Law No. 18,918. Congress meets in the Chile Congress building, which was built during the last years of the Pinochet regime and stands in the port city of Valparaíso, some 140 km west of the capital, Santiago. This new building replaced the old National Congress, located in downtown Santiago. Media related to National Congress of Chile at Wikimedia Commons

0 comments

6.80

5 votes

29

Parliament of Vanuatu

Jurisdiction: Vanuatu

The Parliament (or Parlement in French) is the unicameral legislative body of the Republic of Vanuatu. It was established by chapter 4 of the 1980 Constitution, upon Vanuatu's independence from France and the United Kingdom. The functioning of Parliament is derived from the British Westminster system, and includes the principle of parliamentary supremacy, within the limits of the Constitution. The President, as a figurehead, may not veto parliamentary legislation, unless he considers it may be contrary to the Constitution, in which case he may refer it to the Supreme Court, and veto it only if the Supreme Court declares it to be contrary to the Constitution. Parliament is composed of fifty-two members, directly elected by citizens from multi-member constituencies for a four year term. Parliament elects the Prime Minister from among its members. Members of Parliament are also, along with the presidents of Regional Councils, members of the electoral college which elects the President, for a five year term.

0 comments

6.80

5 votes

30

Congress of Micronesia

Jurisdiction: Federated States of Micronesia

The Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia has 14 non-partisan members, 10 members elected for a two year term in single-seat constituencies and 4 members elected for a four year term by proportional representation.

0 comments

9.00

3 votes

31

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State (DoS), often referred to as the State Department, is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries. The Department was created in 1789 and was the first executive department established. The Department is headquartered in the Harry S. Truman Building located at 2201 C Street, NW, a few blocks from the White House in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Department operates the diplomatic missions of the United States abroad and is responsible for implementing the foreign policy of the United States and U.S. diplomacy efforts. The Department is led by the Secretary of State, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet. The current Secretary of State is Hillary Clinton. The Secretary of State is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential line of succession. The U.S. Constitution, drafted in Philadelphia in 1787 and ratified by the states the following year, gave the President the responsibility for the conduct of the nation's

0 comments

9.00

3 votes

32

Los Angeles Common Council

Jurisdiction: Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and a city charter was put into effect. From 1850 through 1869, council members were elected at large under a first-past-the-post voting system, in which the top vote-getters were seated. From 1870 they were elected by electoral districts called wards. The dates in the headers reflect the years of installation of the incoming councils. City population in 1850: 1,610. Election: July 1, 1850. / Term: July 3, 1850 to May 7, 1851. Election: May 5, 1851. / Term: May 7, 1851, to May 4, 1852. Election: May 3, 1852. / Term: May 4, 1852, to May 3, 1853. Election: May 1, 1853. Term: May 3, 1853, to May 4, 1854. Election: May 1, 1854. / Term: May 4, 1854, to May 9, 1855. "At Councilman Lewis Granger's proposal at the May 4 session, the minutes of the Common Council were for the first time written in both Spanish and English, on alternate pages." "At Councilman Sanford's proposal[,] an invitation was extended to the two printers [in the city] to send a

0 comments

7.75

4 votes

33

National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire

Jurisdiction: Côte d’Ivoire

The National Assembly is Ivory Coast's unicameral legislative body. Evolved from semi-representative bodies of the French Colonial period, the first National Assembly was constituted on 27 November 1960 with 70 elected member (députés) in accordance with the Constitution of 31 October 1960, which created the First Republic. Legislative power in Ivory Coast is exercised by Deputies elected from Constituencies (Circonscriptions) by a Scrutin de Liste or Plurality-at-large voting which has neither a proportional representation or panachage element common in many such systems. The powers of this Assembly expire at the end of its second regular session (session ordinaire) in the fifth year of its mandate. The Assembly is then reformed by election from candidates who must be Ivorian citizens of 25 years or older who have never renounced their Ivorian nationality. The first National Assembly of the Second Republic of Ivory Coast elected for the period 2000-2005 was marked by both internal political crisis and the Ivorian Civil War. No elections were held in 2005, but with the peace deal ending the Civil War, elections are expected on 30 November 2008. The current National Assembly is made

0 comments

7.75

4 votes

34

Parliament of Fiji

Jurisdiction: Fiji
Component bodies: Senate of Fiji

The Parliament of Fiji Islands is bicameral and consists of the House of Representatives has 71 members. 25 of these are elected by universal suffrage. The remaining 46 are reserved for Fiji's ethnic communities and are elected from communal electoral rolls: 23 Fijians, 19 Indo-Fijians, 1 Rotuman, and 3 "General electors" (Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities). The upper chamber of the parliament, the Senate, has 32 members, formally appointed by the President on the nomination of the Great Council of Chiefs (14), the Prime Minister (9), the Leader of the Opposition (8), and the Rotuman Islands Council (1). The Senate is less powerful than the House of Representatives; the Senate may not initiate legislation, but it may reject or amend it. The Senate's powers over financial bills are more restricted: it may veto them in their entirety, but may not amend them. The House of Representatives may override a Senatorial veto by passing the bill a second time in the parliamentary session immediately following the one in which it was rejected by the Senate, after a minimum period of six months. Amendments to the Constitution are excepted: the veto of the Senate is absolute. Following

0 comments

7.75

4 votes

35

National Assembly of Poland

Jurisdiction: Poland
Component bodies: Senate of Poland

The National Assembly (Polish: Zgromadzenie Narodowe) is the name of both chambers of the Polish parliament, a lower house, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and an upper house, the Senate of the Republic of Poland, when sitting in joint session. It is headed by the Marshal of the Sejm (or by the Marshal of the Senate when the former is absent). In the years 1922–1935 and 1989–1990, it was the National Assembly who elected the President of the Republic of Poland by an absolute majority of votes. In 1935, it was replaced by an Assembly of Electors, which consisted of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the General Armed Forces Inspector, 2/3 of deputies to the Sejm, and 1/3 of Senators. The Senate was abolished in 1946 so in 1947 Bolesław Bierut was elected President only by the Sejm. There were no presidents from 1952 until 1989 when the Senate was restored and the National Assembly elected Wojciech Jaruzelski as President. Since 1990, the President has been elected by the people. However, the President is still sworn in before the National Assembly, which is also the only organ which can declare the President's permanent incapacity to perform his duties, or bring an indictment

0 comments

6.60

5 votes

36

Assembly of the Republic

Jurisdiction: Portugal

The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: Assembleia da República, pronounced: [ɐsẽˈblɐjɐ dɐ ʁɛˈpublikɐ]) 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. The Palace of São Bento was formerly known as the seat of the National Assembly (Assembleia Nacional) during the Estado Novo regime. According to the Portuguese Constitution, the unicameral Assembly "is the representative assembly of all Portuguese citizens." The constitution names the assembly as one of the country's organs of supreme authority. The Assembly of the Republic's powers derives from its power to dismiss a government through a vote of no confidence, to change the country's laws, and to amend the constitution (this one requires a majority of two-thirds). In addition to these key powers, the constitution grants to the Assembly extensive legislative powers and substantial control over the budget, the right to authorize the government to raise taxes and grant loans, the power to ratify treaties and other kinds of international agreements, and the duty to approve or reject decisions by the President of the

0 comments

7.50

4 votes

37

Legislative Council of the Isle of Man

Jurisdiction: Isle of Man
Body this is a component of: Tynwald

The Legislative Council (Manx: Yn Choonceil Slattyssagh) is the upper chamber of Tynwald, the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of eleven Members — The MLCs are elected by the House of Keys by secret ballot for a term of 4 years. Four retire every 2 years, so four MLCs are elected at a time. A MLC must be at least 21 years old and resident in the Isle of Man. Formerly, the Lieutenant Governor presided over the Legislative Council and over Tynwald Court (a joint session of the Council and the House of Keys). Now, however, the President of Tynwald, who is chosen by the whole Tynwald for a six-year term, is the ex officio President of the Legislative Council, and presides over both the Legislative Council and Tynwald Court, except that the Lieutenant Governor presides once a year on Tynwald Day. Furthermore, the Church of England Bishop of Sodor and Man and the Attorney General appointed by the Lord of Mann have seats on the Legislative Council. The President has a casting vote, the Bishop may vote like other members, while the Attorney General may not vote at all. The Council does not normally originate legislation (the last Act originating from the Council was the Sharing

0 comments

7.50

4 votes

38

People's Council of Syria

Jurisdiction: Syria

The People's Council (Arabic: مجلس الشعب‎, Majlis al-Sha'ab) is Syria's legislative authority. It has 250 members elected for a four year term in 15 multi-seat constituencies. There are two main political fronts; the National Progressive Front and Popular Front for Change and Liberation. The presidential candidate is appointed by the parliament and needs to be confirmed for a seven year term in a referendum. The 2012 elections resulted in a new parliament that for the first time in four decades is based on a multi-party system. The last parliamentary election was on 7 May 2012 and the results were announced on 15 May. The Baath party won an even larger victory than it did in previous elections. They won a majority of around 60% of the 250 parliamentary seats. Previously, the Baath had a majority of just over 50% of the seats in parliament. If one adds in the independent MPs aligned with the Baath Party, the MPs who support the president make up over 90% of the seats in new parliament. The National Unity List, which is dominated by the Syrian Baath Party, won 134 seats in the 245 member parliament. Independent individuals 72 seats. The Front for Change and Liberation won 5 seats.

0 comments

7.50

4 votes

39

Philadelphia City Council

Jurisdiction: Philadelphia

The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each member's term is four years, and there are no limits on the number of terms a member may serve. The 1951 Home Rule Charter established the council as the legislative arm of Philadelphia municipal government, consisting of seventeen members. Ten council members are elected by district and seven from the city at large. At-large council members are elected using limited voting with limited nomination, guaranteeing that two minority-party candidates are elected. Each is elected for a term of four years with no limit on the number of terms that may be served. The members of City Council elect from among themselves a president, who serves as the regular chairperson of council meetings. In consultation with the majority of council members, the President appoints members to the various standing committees of the council. The president is also responsible for selecting and overseeing most Council employees. Every proposed ordinance is in the form of a

0 comments

7.50

4 votes

40

Belgian Federal Parliament

Jurisdiction: Belgium
Component bodies: Belgian Senate

The Belgian Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers (help·info), French: la Chambre des Représentants, German: die Abgeordnetenkammer) and the Senate (Dutch: Senaat (help·info), French: le Sénat, German: der Senat). It sits in the Palace of the Nation (French: Palais de la Nation; Dutch: Paleis der Natie). The Chamber of Representatives holds its plenary meetings in the Palace of the Nation, Brussels. Eligibility requirements for the Chamber are a minimum age of 21, citizenship, and residency in Belgium. The number of seats in the Chamber is constitutionally set at 150 elected from 11 electoral districts. The districts are divided along linguistic lines: 5 Flemish (79 seats), 5 Walloon (49 seats), and the bilingual district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (22 seats). The districts are the provinces, except for the districts of Leuven (part of Flemish Brabant) and Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. Each district is given a number of seats proportional to its population (not number of voters) ranging from 4 for Luxembourg to 24 for Antwerp. All districts have an electoral threshold of 5%, except for

0 comments

8.67

3 votes

41

Brantford City Council

Jurisdiction: Brantford

The Brantford City Council is the governing body of Brantford, Ontario. The council consists of a mayor and ten councillors, two representing each of five wards. The city council elections are held every four years and the citizens and community members of Brantford vote for their candidates, who are eligible to be confirmed by majority of popular votes. The first city council of Brantford was inaugurated on June 18, 1877. Council elected in the 2006 municipal election: Council elected in the 2010 municipal election:

0 comments

8.67

3 votes

42

Sejm

Jurisdiction: Poland
Body this is a component of: National Assembly of Poland

The Sejm [sɛjm] ( listen) is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish (literally 'Envoy'). It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm (Marszałek Sejmu). In the Kingdom of Poland Sejm referred to the entire three-chamber parliament of Poland, comprising the lower house (Chamber of Envoys; Polish: Izba Poselska), the upper house (Senate; Polish: Senat) and the King. It was thus a three-estate parliament. Since the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939) Sejm has referred only to the lower house of the parliament; the upper house is called the Senat. "Sejm" stems from an Old Slavic word meaning 'gathering'. Its origin were the King's Councils ('wiece'), which gained power during the time of Poland's fragmentation (1146–1295). The Sejm in 1182 in Łęczyca was the most notable of these councils, in that for the first time in Poland's history it established laws constraining the power of the ruler. It forbade arbitrary sequestration of supplies in the countryside and takeover of bishopric lands after the death of a bishop. However, these early Sejms were not a regular event and were

0 comments

8.67

3 votes

43

United States Senate

Jurisdiction: United States of America
Body this is a component of: United States Congress

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each U.S. state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. Senators serve staggered six-year terms. The chamber of the United States Senate is located in the north wing of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C., the national capital. The House of Representatives convenes in the south wing of the same building. The Senate has several exclusive powers not granted to the House, including consenting to treaties as a precondition to their ratification and consenting or confirming appointments of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges, other federal executive officials, military officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, and other federal uniformed officers, as well as trial of federal officials impeached by the House. The Senate is both a more deliberative and more prestigious body than the House of Representatives, due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which

0 comments

8.67

3 votes

44

French Senate

Jurisdiction: France
Body this is a component of: Parliament of France

The Senate (French: Sénat ; French pronunciation: [se'na]) is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president. The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage. France's first experience with an upper house was under the Directory from 1795 to 1799, when the Council of Ancients was the upper chamber. There were Senates in both the First and Second Empires (the former being known as the sénat conservateur, the latter as the French Senate), but these were only nominally legislative bodies – technically they were not legislative, but rather advisory bodies on the model of the Roman Senate. With the Restoration in 1814, a new Chamber of Peers was created, on the model of the British House of Lords. At first it contained hereditary peers, but following the July Revolution of 1830, it became a body to which one was appointed for life. The Second Republic returned to a unicameral system after 1848, but soon after the establishment of the Second French Empire in 1852, a Senate was established as the upper chamber. In the Fourth

0 comments

10.00

2 votes

45

States of Jersey

Jurisdiction: Jersey

The States of Jersey (French: États de Jersey) is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Jersey. The origins of the legislature of Jersey lie in the system of self-government according to Norman law guaranteed to the Channel Islands by King John following the division of Normandy in 1204. The Assembly of the States of Jersey has exercised uncontested legislative powers since 1771, when the concurrent law-making power of the Royal Court of Jersey was abolished. The Assembly passes and amends laws and regulations; approves the annual budget and taxation; appoints and removes the Chief Minister, Ministers, presidents and members of committees; debates matters proposed by the Council of Ministers, by Ministers or by individual members. Members are also able to ask questions to find out information and to hold Ministers to account. Executive powers are exercised by a Chief Minister and nine ministers, elected from among the members of the States of Jersey and known collectively as the Council of Ministers. Ministers are accountable to the Assembly for the conduct of their departments. The constitution of the States is set out in the States of Jersey Law 2005.

0 comments

10.00

2 votes

46

National Assembly of South Africa

Jurisdiction: South Africa
Body this is a component of: Parliament of South Africa

The National Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape Province. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation system where half of the members are elected proportionally from 9 provincial lists and the remaining half from national lists so as to restore proportionality. The National Assembly is presided over by a Speaker, assisted by a Deputy Speaker. The current Speaker is Max Sisulu and the Deputy Speaker is Nomaindia Mfeketo; they were elected on 6 May 2009. The National Assembly seats are allocated using a proportional representation system with closed lists. Seats are first allocated according to the (integer part of the) Droop quota. Thereafter at most five seats are allocated using the largest remainder method (using the Droop quota). Any additional seats are allocated amongst the parties who then already have seats using the highest averages method. Voters have one vote at elections to the National Assembly. Seats are allocated in ten multi-member constituencies via party lists. One constituency is a national or 'at large' constituency and nine

0 comments

6.40

5 votes

47

National Transitional Legislative Assembly of Liberia

Jurisdiction: Liberia

The National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA) was Liberia's legislative body during the country's transition from civil war to democratic rule (October 2003–January 2006). The NTLA was created as part of an August 2003 peace agreement that ended a civil war between government forces of President Charles Taylor and two rebel groups - Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). It also called for the creation of a broad-based transitional government that would rule for two years, ending with the holding of elections in October 2005 and the installation of a democratically elected government by January 2006. The NTLA replaced the bicameral Legislature, which was elected in 1997. It consisted of 76 appointed members representing the Taylor government, rebel groups, political parties, and civil society. The distribution of seats among these groups is as follows: Note: Civil Society and Special Interest Groups included the National Bar Association, Liberian business organizations, Women's organizations, Trade unions, Teachers unions, Liberians in the Diaspora, and Youth organizations. According to the 2003 peace

0 comments

7.25

4 votes

48

Senate of Palau

Jurisdiction: Palau
Body this is a component of: Palau National Congress

The Senate of Palau is the upper house of the Palau National Congress (Olbiil era Kelulau). The Senate has 9 members serving four-year terms in single-seat constituencies. In the elections held on 2 November 2004 only non-partisans were elected. No political parties exist.

0 comments

7.25

4 votes

49

Chamber of Deputies of Chile

Jurisdiction: Chile
Body this is a component of: National Congress of Chile

The Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile (Spanish: Cámara de Diputados) is the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current constitution. It comprises 120 deputies, who are elected to four-year terms, by direct universal suffrage, from 60 two-member electoral districts. Deputies must: be aged at least 21; not be disqualified from voting; have finished secondary school or its equivalent; and have lived in the corresponding electoral district for at least two years prior to the election. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for each electoral district's two Chamber seats. Typically, the two largest coalitions in a district divide the seats, one each, among themselves. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than two-to-one does the winning coalition gain both seats. The Chamber of Deputies meets in Chile's National Congress located in the port city of Valparaíso, some 120 km west of the capital, Santiago. The Congress building

0 comments

8.33

3 votes

50

Parliament of Somaliland

Jurisdiction: Somaliland
Component bodies: House of Elders of Somaliland

The Parliament of Somaliland consists of two chambers: Until 1960 the former British Somaliland has its own legislature called the Legislative Assembly. W. F. Stubbs was its speaker.

0 comments

8.33

3 votes

51

Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg

Jurisdiction: Luxembourg

The Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourgish: D'Chamber, French: Chambre des Députés, German: Abgeordnetenkammer), 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. The Chamber is made up of 60 seats. Deputies are elected to serve five-year terms by proportional representation in four multi-seat constituencies. Voters may vote for as many candidates as the constituency elects deputies. The function of the Chamber of Deputies is covered under Chapter IV of the Luxembourgian constitution, the first article of which states that the purpose of the Chamber is to represent the country. Luxembourg is a parliamentary democracy, in which the Chamber is elected by universal suffrage under the d'Hondt method of Party-list proportional representation. All laws must be passed by the Chamber. Each bill must be submitted to two votes in the Chamber, with an interval of at least three months between the votes, for it to become law. Laws are passed by absolute majority, provided that a quorum of half of the deputies is present. The Chamber is composed

0 comments

9.50

2 votes

52

Council of the District of Columbia

Jurisdiction: Washington, D.C.

The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the District is not part of any U.S. state and is instead overseen directly by the federal government. Since 1973, the United States Congress has devolved certain powers to the Council that would typically be exercised by state legislatures. However, Congress maintains supreme authority over the federal district and therefore all acts of the Council are subject to congressional review and may be overturned. The Council meets in the John A. Wilson Building in downtown Washington. Under the U.S. Constitution, the District remains under the jurisdiction of Congress. However, at various times in the city's history, Congress has chosen to devolve some of its authority to District residents and their elected representatives. When Congress passed the Residence Act on July 16, 1790, they called for a new permanent capital of the United States to be located on the Potomac River. The federal district originally comprised land in the form of a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side donated by the states of Maryland and

0 comments

9.50

2 votes

53

European Commission

Jurisdiction: European Union

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and day-to-day running of the EU. The Commission operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "commissioners" ). There is one member per member state, though members are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 27 is the Commission President (currently José Manuel Durão Barroso) proposed by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament. The Council then appoints the other 26 members of the Commission in agreement with the nominated President, and then the 27 members as a single body are subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament. The first Barroso Commission took office in late 2004 and its successor, under the same President, took office in 2010. The term "Commission" is used either in the narrow sense of the 27-member College of Commissioners (or College) or to also include the administrative body of about 23,000 European civil servants who are split into departments called Directorates-General

0 comments

9.50

2 votes

54

People's Representative Council

Jurisdiction: Indonesia
Body this is a component of: People's Consultative Assembly

The People's Representative Council (Indonesian: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR), sometimes referred to as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected national legislative assemblies in Indonesia. Together with the Regional Representatives Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah/DPD), a second chamber with limited powers, it makes up a third chamber, the People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat). Currently there are 560 members, following the 2009 elections, all elected. The house has been constantly under public outcry due to high level of fraud and corruption. In 1915, members of the Indonesian nationalist organization Budi Utomo and others toured the Netherlands to argue for the establishment of a legislature for the Dutch East Indies, and in December 1916 a bill was passed to establish a Volksraad (People's Council). It met for the first time in 1918. Ten of its nineteen members elected by local councils were Indonesians, as were five of the nineteen appointed members. However, it had only advisory powers, although the governor-general had to consult it on financial matters. The body grew in size to 60 members, half of who were elected by a total of 2,228

0 comments

9.50

2 votes

55

Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag

Jurisdiction: Rhineland-Palatinate

The Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag is the state diet of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Article 79, Section 1 of the Rhineland-Palatinate constitution provides: "The Landtag is the supreme organ of political decision-making, elected by the people. It represents the people, elects the Minister-President and confirms the cabinet, passes the laws and the budget, controls the executive and enunciates the popular will in the conduct of public affairs, in questions of European policy and according to the agreements between the Landtag and the cabinet." The Landtag consists of 101 members. The Landtag convenes in the Deutschhaus building, where also the first democratically elected parliament German history had convened, the Rhenish-German national convention of the Mainz Republic. The German flag used in the Landtag is a historical one used during the Hambacher Fest. After the elections of March 27, 2011, the composition of the Landtag is as follows:

0 comments

9.50

2 votes

56

House of People's Representatives

Jurisdiction: Ethiopia
Body this is a component of: Federal Parliamentary Assembly

The Federal Parliamentary Assembly of Ethiopia has two chambers. The lower house is the House of Peoples' Representatives (Amharic የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤትYehizbtewekayoch Mekir Bet) with 547 members (22 seats are reserved for representatives of minority Nationalities and Peoples), elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies.

0 comments

7.00

4 votes

57

House of Representatives of the Philippines

Jurisdiction: Philippines
Body this is a component of: Congress of the Philippines

The House of Representatives of the Philippines (Filipino: Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas; also known in its Spanish name Camara de Representantes de Filipinas) is the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines. The Senate is the upper house. The House is often informally called Congress. Members of the house are called Congressmen (mga kinatawan or mga konggresista) and their title is Representative. Congressmen are elected to a three-year term and can be reelected, but cannot serve more than three consecutive terms. Around eighty percent of congressmen are district representatives, representing a particular geographical area. There are 229 legislative districts in the country, each composed of about 250,000 people. There are also sectoral representatives elected through the party-list system who constitute not more than twenty percent of the total number of Representatives. Aside from having its concurrence on every bill in order to be passed for the president's signature to become a law, the House of Representatives has the power to impeach certain officials, and all money bills must originate from the lower house. The House of Representatives is headed by Speaker,

0 comments

7.00

4 votes

58

National Council of the Slovak Republic

Jurisdiction: Slovakia

The National Council (Slovak: Národná rada), abbreviated to NR SR, is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral, and consists of 150 MPs, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation every four years. Slovakia's parliament has been called the 'National Council' since 1 October 1992. From 1969 to 1992, its predecessor, the parliament of the Slovak part of Czechoslovakia, was called the Slovak National Council (Slovenská národná rada). The National Council approves domestic legislation, constitutional laws, and the annual budget. Its consent is required to ratify international treaties, and is responsible for approving military operations. It also elects individuals to some positions in the executive and judiciary as specified by law. The parliament building is situated on the castle hill, next to Bratislava Castle in Alexander Dubček Square. The 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic is Slovakia's sole constitutional and legislative body. It considers and approves the Constitution, constitutional statutes and other legal acts. It also approves the state budget. It elects some officials specified by law as well as the

0 comments

7.00

4 votes

59

Batasang Bayan

Jurisdiction: Philippines

The Batasang Bayan (English: Legislative Advisory Council) was the consultative assembly and legislative advisory council that help formulate decrees promulgated by the Ferdinand Marcos from its inauguration on September 21, 1976 to October 30, 1978. "As such powers and functions shall consist of but not limited to assisting and advising the President of his lawmaking functions, providing a forum for the citizenry, through the herein designated representatives, to ventilate their views on national issues, as well as their opinions on the manner of administering the affairs of the government, providing a forum for the rationalization, unification, and clarification on the policies and programs of the Executive Branch of Government and providing a mechanism for actually conducting a review of the structures, policies and efficiencies of the different Barangays and Sanggunians and submit its finding and recommendations to the President as mandated by the 1973 Constitution as the Philippines shifted from a presidential to a parliamentary form of government and Presidential Decree No. 995." It held its regular and special sessions at the Philippine International Convention Center. The

0 comments

8.00

3 votes

60

Landtag of Liechtenstein

Jurisdiction: Liechtenstein

The Diet (Landtag) is the parliament or legislature of Liechtenstein. It has 25 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation in two multi-seat constituencies. Its current President is Arthur Brunhart, who has held the post since 2009.

0 comments

8.00

3 votes

61

National Assembly of Cambodia

Jurisdiction: Cambodia
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Cambodia

The National Assembly (Cambodian: Radhsphea) is the lower house of the Parliament of Cambodia. It has 123 members, elected for five year terms by proportional representation, using provinces as constituencies of 1 to 18 members, and the D'Hondt method of seat distribution. The next National Assembly Elections are scheduled for July 2013.

0 comments

8.00

3 votes

62

Parliament of Algeria

Jurisdiction: Algeria
Component bodies: People's National Assembly of Algeria

The Parliament of Algeria consists of two chambers:

0 comments

8.00

3 votes

63

Senate of Puerto Rico

Jurisdiction: Puerto Rico
Body this is a component of: Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

The Senate of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is usually composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an additional eleven senators are elected at-large. Whenever the minority party elects less than 9 senators, Puerto Rico's Constitution provides for the enlargement of the body through the recognition of "add-on" senators, who become senators "at-large". The Senate, along with its members and staff, are housed in the eastern half of the Capitol Building, the Rafael Martínez Nadal Senate Annex Building, the Luis Muñoz Marín Office Building, the Antonio R. Barceló Building, the Luis A. Ferré Building, the Ramón Mellado Parsons Office Building and the Baltasar Corrada del Rio Office Building. The Senate of Puerto Rico was established in 1917, after the signing of the Jones Act. Signed in March 2, 1917, the act made Puerto Ricans into U.S. citizens and empowered them to have a popularly-elected Senate. This came to amend and improve the Foraker Act, signed in

0 comments

8.00

3 votes

64

House of Representatives of Nigeria

Jurisdiction: Nigeria
Body this is a component of: Nigerian National Assembly

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the country's bicameral National Assembly. The Senate of Nigeria is the upper house. The current House of Representatives, formed following elections held in April 2011, has a total of 360 members who are elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority (or first-past-the-post) system. Members serve four-year terms. The Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the house. The current Speaker is Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. He was elected on 06 June 2011.

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6.75

4 votes

65

National Assembly of Botswana

Jurisdiction: Botswana
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Botswana

The National Assembly is the legislature Botswana's unicameral Parliament. It is advised by the House of Chiefs, which is not a house of Parliament. The current National Assembly, formed following elections held on 16 October 2009, has a total of 63 members. 57 members are directly elected in single member constituencies using the simple-majority (or First-past-the-post) system for a term of five years. Four members are co-opted (by secret ballot of the rest of the Assembly) while the remaining two (the President and Attorney-general) are ex-officio. Note: In the pre-independence 1965 election, the Botswana Democratic Party was known as the Bechuanaland Democratic party and the Botswana People's Party was known as the Bechuanaland People's Party. Despite being a one party dominant state since independence, all elections held in the country have been considered democratic, free, and fair.

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6.75

4 votes

66

National Assembly of Serbia

Jurisdiction: Serbia

The National Assembly (Serbian: Народна скупштина / Narodna skupština, pronounced [nǎːrodnaː skûpʃtina sř̩bijeː]) is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 proportionally elected deputies by secret ballot, on 4 years term. The assembly elects a president (speaker) who presides over the sessions. The current president is Nebojša Stefanović since 23 July 2012. The National Assembly exercise supreme legislative power. It adopts and amends the Constitution, elects Government, appoints and dismisses Constitutional Court judges, president of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia and other state officials. All decisions are made by majority vote of deputies at the session at which majority of deputies are present, except for amending the Constitution, when two thirds majority is needed. The assembly convenes in the House of the National Assembly in Belgrade. The competencies the National Assembly are defined by the Constitution of Serbia, articles 98-110: Performs other functions stipulated by the Constitution and Law. Parliamentary elections are regulated by the Constitution. The elections are held after the four-year term

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6.75

4 votes

67

Chamber of Deputies of Tunisia

Jurisdiction: Tunisia
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Tunisia

The Chamber of Deputies (Arabic: مجلس النواب تونس‎ Majlis al-Nuwaab, French: Chambre des députés) is the lower chamber of the Parliament of Tunisia, the bicameral legislative branch of the government of Tunisia. It has 189 seats and members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. 20% of the seats are reserved for the opposition. Elections are held in the last 30 days of each five-year term. To be eligible for office, one must be a voter with a Tunisian mother or father and be at least 23 years old the day candidacy is announced. Elections were most recently held in October 2009. Under the original Tunisian constitution, the Chamber of Deputies theoretically possessed great lawmaking powers, and even had the right to censure the government by a two-thirds majority. In practice, the body was dominated by the Democratic Constitutional Rally (formerly the Neo-Destour Party and Socialist Destour Party) from independence until the 2011 Tunisian revolution. Even when opposition parties were nominally legal, there was little opposition to executive decisions until the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. During the last few years of Ben Ali's tenure, the

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9.00

2 votes

68

Legislative Assembly of Nunavut

Jurisdiction: Nunavut

The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada, is located in Iqaluit, and is the territory's parliament. The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, on 7 October 2002, during her Golden Jubilee tour of Canada. In her speech the Queen stated: "I am proud to be the first member of the Canadian Royal Family to be greeted in Canada's newest territory." Prior to the opening of the Legislative Building of Nunavut the members met in the gymnasium of the Inuksuk High School. The Hansard of the assembly is published in Inuktitut and English, making the territory one of only three Canadian jurisdictions to produce a bilingual Hansard, along with the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick and the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa. There are no political parties in Nunavut and the territory operates by consensus government. Approximately two weeks after an election, the newly elected legislature meets in a special session called the Nunavut Leadership Forum to select the Executive Council. There are currently 19 seats occupied in the Nunavut Legislature. The current assembly is the third in the territory's history. G7 finance ministers met at the

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9.00

2 votes

69

National Assembly of Eritrea

Jurisdiction: Eritrea

The National Assembly (Hagerawi Baito) has 104 members, 64 members appointed and 40 members representing the members of the Central Committee of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ, The sole legal political party). According to the IPU parliament has 150 indirectly elected members. The National Assembly was composed in February 1992. AFP reported that Eritreans have elected 399 representatives in the country's six regions in a lengthy process that will lead to the formation of a constituent assembly. The regional elections began on 4 January 1997 in some parts of the country and were completed in others by 1 March 1997. When Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia 1952 - 1962 the Eritean Assembly was the legislature.

0 comments

9.00

2 votes

70

Oireachtas of the Irish Free State

Jurisdiction: Irish Free State
Component bodies: Dáil Éireann

The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State (Irish: Oireachtas Shaorstát Éireann) was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was the first officially recognised independent Irish Parliament outside of Ireland since the historic Parliament of Ireland which was disbanded with the Act of Union. The Parliament was bicameral, consisting of the Dáil Éireann (the lower house) with 153 seats and the Seanad Éireann (the upper house; also known as the 'Senate') with 60 seats. The King, who was officially represented by the Governor-General, was also a constitute part of the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State were disbanded by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland which created the modern Oireachtas Éireann. Like the modern Oireachtas, the Free State legislature was dominated by the powerful, directly elected Dáil. Unlike the modern organ, the Free State Oireachtas had authority to amend the constitution as it saw fit, without recourse to a referendum. During the Free State it was also the Oireachtas as a whole, rather than the Dáil, that had authority to commit

0 comments

9.00

2 votes

71

Sejmik

A sejmik (Polish pronunciation: [ˈsɛjmʲik], diminutive of sejm, occasionally translated as a dietine; Lithuanian: seimelis) was a name of various local parliaments throughout the history of Poland. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies 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 the Commonwealth. In a limited form, some sejmiks existed in partitioned Poland, and later, in the Second Polish Republic. In modern Poland, since 1999, the term has been revived as a voivodeship sejmik (sejmik województwa), referring to the elected council of each of the 16 voivodeships. The word sejm and sejmik are derived from old Czech sejmovat, which means "to bring together" or "to summon". The traditions of a sejmik can be traced to the institution of a wiec that actually predates the Polish state. Sejmiks date to the late 14th century when they arose from gatherings of nobility, formed for military and consultative purposes. Sejmiks were legally recognized by the 1454 Nieszawa Statutes, in a privilege granted to the szlachta (Polish nobility) by King Casimir IV Jagiellon, when

0 comments

9.00

2 votes

72

Slovenian Parliament

Jurisdiction: Slovenia
Component bodies: National Assembly of Slovenia

The Slovenian Parliament (Slovene: Slovenski parlament) is the informal designation of the general representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia, the general representative body of the Slovenian nation is the National Assembly. The general public in Slovenia often designates the National Assembly as the Slovenian Parliament. However, a minor part of the legislative power resides also in the National Council, the representative body of basic social groups. The opinions of experts and general Slovenian public on whether the Slovenian Parliament is bicameral or unicameral differ, although the majority considers it distinctively incompletely bicameral. In 2008, the Constitutional Court of Slovenia recognized the Slovenian Parliament as incompletely bicameral. According to the June 2012 statement by France Bučar, one of the founding fathers of Slovenian democracy and independence, the democracy in Slovenia is very weak, with the power concentrated in the hands of a few people, as in the time of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia before 1991, and the Slovenian Parliament is only a formal

0 comments

9.00

2 votes

73

Arizona Legislature

Jurisdiction: Arizona
Component bodies: Arizona House of Representatives

The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. There are 60 Representatives and 30 Senators. The state legislature meets in the Capitol Complex in the state capital, Phoenix. There are 30 legislative districts in Arizona, each of which is a multimember constituency. Each district elects a Senator and 2 Representatives for a two-year term. The crossing of upper and lower house districts into a single constituency is found in only seven U.S. state legislatures: Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington. Since Representatives and Senators are elected by exactly the same people, each House of the Arizona Legislature tends to have members with identical political philosophies, which is illustrated by the fact (see below) that the Republican party has two-thirds of the seats in each House. This produces, in effect, a "two-house unicameral" legislature. Before the 2010 general election, the Republican Party controlled both houses of the Arizona Legislature, with an advantage over the

0 comments

7.67

3 votes

74

Constituent Cortes

Constituent Cortes (Spanish: Cortes constituyentes) is the description of Spain's parliament, the Cortes, when convened as a constituent assembly. In the 20th century, only one Constituent Cortes was officially opened (Cortes are "opened" in accordance with a mediaeval royal proclamation), and that was the Republican Cortes in 1931. The Cortes in 1977 enacted the new Spanish constitution. However, it was never officially considered "constituent", as the assembly chosen in the 1977 general elections was not mandated to consider a new constitution, but to rule under the constitution of the former dictatorship - the so called Leyes Fundamentales (fundamental laws). However, there was significant pressure from King Juan Carlos for the 1977 Cortes to draft a new constitution, and it is consequently frequently treated much like a constituent Cortes.

0 comments

7.67

3 votes

75

House of Councillors

Jurisdiction: Japan
Body this is a component of: Diet of Japan

The House of Councillors (参議院, Sangiin) is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives can insist on its decision. In all other decisions, the House of Representatives can override a vote of the House of Councillors only by a two-thirds majority of members present. The House of Councillors has 242 members who each serve six-year terms, two years longer than those of the House of Representatives. Councillors must be at least 30 years old, compared with 25 years old in the House of Representatives. The House cannot be dissolved, as only half of its membership is elected at each election. Of the 121 members subject to election each time, 73 are elected from the 47 prefectural districts (by single non-transferable vote) and 48 are elected from a nationwide list by proportional representation with open lists. Up to the 1998 election, there were 252 members, 126 elected at a time: 76 from prefectural districts and 50 elected nationwide.

0 comments

7.67

3 votes

76

Italian Senate

Jurisdiction: Italy
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Italy

The Senate of the Republic (Italian: Senato della Repubblica) is a house of the bicameral Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno (Senate of the Kingdom), itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino (Subalpine Senate) of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848. It sits in Palazzo Madama in Rome. The Senate consists of 315 elected members, and as of 2011 seven senators for life. The elected senators must be over 40 years of age, are elected by an electorate composed of Italian citizens aged 25 or over and, save for six senators who represent Italians living outside Italy, are elected on a regional basis. The senators for life are composed of former Presidents of the Italian Republic, who hold office ex officio and those who are appointed by the president for "for outstanding merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". The five current life senators are: The current Italian President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, was a life senator before his election in 2006; his membership of the Senate is suspended whilst in Presidential office. The Italian

0 comments

7.67

3 votes

77

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly

Jurisdiction: Newfoundland and Labrador
Component bodies: General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador

The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is one of two components of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, the other being the Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Newfoundland and Labrador General Assembly meets in the Confederation Building at St. John's. Worthy of note is the fact that the governing party sits on the left side of the speaker of the House of Assembly as opposed to the traditional right side of the speaker. This tradition dates back to the 1850s because the heaters in the Colonial Building were located on the left side. Thus, the government chose to sit in the heat, and leave the opposition sitting in the cold. Cabinet ministers are in bold, party leaders are in italic, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly is designated by a dagger.

0 comments

7.67

3 votes

78

Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro

Jurisdiction: Serbia and Montenegro

The Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro (Скупштина Србије и Црне Горе/Skupština Srbije i Crne Gore) was the legislative body of Serbia and Montenegro. The parliament was unicameral and was made up of 126 deputies, of which 91 were from Serbia and 35 were from Montenegro. The parliament was established in 2003, and was a replacement for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's legislature. With the declaration of independence of Montenegro on June 3, 2006, the parliament ceased to exist. The parliament was elected from among its deputies a President and Vice-President of the parliament, who could not be from the same member state. The assembly could be dissolved if the candidate for the President of Serbia and Montenegro or the list of candidates for ministers of the council of ministers did not win the required number of votes after two and three proposals respectively. In that case the President could call for direct elections. The President and the Vice-President of the parliament proposed a candidate for the President of Serbia and Montenegro, which the parliament at large then elected, along with the Council of Minsters. The Council of Ministers, a deputy and the assembly of a

0 comments

7.67

3 votes

79

Saeima

Jurisdiction: 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 scheduled to be held once every four years, normally on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in September 2011. The President of Latvia can dismiss the Saeima and request early elections. The procedure for dismissing it involves substantial political risk to the president, including a risk of loss of office. On May 28, 2011, president Valdis Zatlers decided to initiate the dissolution of the current Saeima, which was to be decided in a referendum. The Saeima was dissolved on 23 July 2011. The current Speaker of the Saeima is Solvita Āboltiņa. The word "Saeima" meaning "a gathering, a meeting, a council" was constructed by the Young Latvian Juris Alunāns. It stems from the archaic Latvian word eima meaning "to go" (derived from the PIE *ei "to go" and also a cognate with the Ancient Greek eimi, Gaulish eimu among others) Deputies are elected to represent one of five constituencies: Kurzeme (13

0 comments

7.67

3 votes

80

Assembly of Albania

Jurisdiction: Albania

The Parliament of Albania (Albanian: Kuvendi i Shqipërisë or short Kuvendi or Parlamenti), formerly the People's Parliament (Albanian: Kuvendi Popullor) is the unicameral parliament of the Republic of Albania. It has 140 members, elected for four-year terms. The electoral system is closed list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the country's 12 administrative regions. Within any constituency, parties must meet a threshold of three percent of votes; pre-election coalitions must meet a threshold of five percent. All laws passed by the parliament are published by the Albanian Official Journal (Albanian: Fletorja Zyrtare), the official journal of the government of Albania. The legislative system in Albania has a relatively short history, and is closely related to the history of the state. During this period, it has evolved under different regimes. The parliamentary institutions in Albania have their beginnings in the late-1912 Albanian Independence from the Ottoman Empire. The National Assembly of Vlora, created during All-Albanian Congress on 28 November 1912, served as the Albanian legislative body for two years, until the 1914

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

81

National Assembly of Hungary

Jurisdiction: Hungary

The National Assembly or Diet (Hungarian: Országgyűlés) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members the assembly (but area winners enter regardless). The Assembly includes 25 standing committees to debate and report on introduced bills and to supervise the activities of the ministers. The Constitutional Court of Hungary has the right to challenge legislation on the grounds of constitutionality. The assembly has met in the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest since 1902. The history of the Hungarian legislative goes back to the 15th century Diet of Hungary, which was also called Országgyűlés in Hungarian. Insofar today's parliament can be called "Diet" as well, but uses the term "National Assembly" in English in order to differentiate between today's unicameral republican assembly and the bicameral one during the monarchy. At the sixth parliamentary elections, four parties or party alliances passed the minimum threshold: the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union in

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

82

Parliament of Barbados

Jurisdiction: Barbados
Component bodies: Senate of Barbados

The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is formally made up of: HM Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados (represented by the Governor-General), an appointed Senate (Upper house), and an elected House of Assembly (Lower house). Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings (commonly known as "The Public Buildings"), in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael. The Senate is made up of twenty-one Senators and The Queen (therein represented by the Governor-General), while the House consists of thirty Members of Parliament (MPs) in addition to the Honourable Speaker of the House. Members to serve in the Cabinet of Barbados may be chosen by the Prime Minister from either the House of Assembly or Senate, (the Prime Minister alone who must be chosen by the Governor-General must come from the House of Assembly.) In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament; in practice during modern times, real power is vested in the House of Assembly, as the Governor-General generally acts on

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

83

Parliament of Finland

Jurisdiction: Finland

The Eduskunta (Finnish: eduskunta or Suomen eduskunta, Swedish: riksdagen or Finlands riksdag), is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011. Under the Constitution of Finland, the 200-member unicameral parliament exercises supreme decision-making authority in Finland. Sovereignty belongs to the people and that power is vested in the parliament. It passes legislation, decides on the state budget, approves international treaties, and supervises the activities of the government. It may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, and override presidential vetoes; its acts are not subject to judicial review. Legislation may be initiated by the Council of State, or one of the members of the Eduskunta. To make changes to the Constitution, amendments must be approved twice by the Eduskunta, in two successive electoral periods with a general election held in between. Members of parliament enjoy parliamentary immunity: Without the parliament's approval, members may not be prosecuted for anything they say in session or

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

84

Regina City Council

Jurisdiction: Regina

Regina City Council is the governing body of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The council consists of the mayor and ten councillors representing wards. The current council sits between 2009 and 2012.

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

85

Senate of Liberia

Jurisdiction: Liberia
Body this is a component of: Legislature of Liberia

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the House of Representatives comprises the Legislature of Liberia. Each of the fifteen counties are equally represented by two senators, elected to serve staggered nine-year terms. The Senate meets at the Capitol Building in Monrovia. The Senate is largely modeled on the United States Senate. The Constitution vests the legislative power of Liberia in both the Senate and the House, which must both concur on a bill prior to it being sent to the president. In addition, the Senate possesses several exclusive powers under the Constitution, including the power to advise and consent to the president's appointments to both the executive and judicial branches and the duty to try all public officials impeached by the House of Representatives. The Senate of Liberia, along with the House of Representatives, inherited the legislative powers of the Council of the Commonwealth of Liberia upon the country's Declaration of Independence in 1847. Modeled on the United States Senate, the Liberian Senate contained two senators from each of the country's three counties, giving it a total membership of only

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

86

Storting

Jurisdiction: Norway

The Storting (English: Great thing; Norwegian: Stortinget, literally "the great assembly") is the supreme legislature of Norway, located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members, and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation in nineteen plural member constituencies. The assembly is led by a presidium of a president and five vice presidents; since 2009 Dag Terje Andersen has been president. The members are allocated to twelve standing committees, as well as four procedural committees. Almost all public agencies of Norway are subordinate to the government, but three ombudsmen, the Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee and the Office of the Auditor General are directly subordinate to parliament. Parliament was established by the Constitution of Norway in 1814 and has since 1866 met in the Parliament of Norway Building, designed by Emil Victor Langlet. Parliamentarianism was established in 1884, and until 2009 practiced qualified unicameralism with two chambers: the Lagting and the Odelsting. Following the 2009 election, seven parties are represented in parliament: the Labour Party (64 representatives), the Progress Party (41), the

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

87

United Arab Emirates Federal National Council

Jurisdiction: United Arab Emirates

The Federal National Council (FNC) (Arabic: المجلس الوطني الإتحادي‎, al-Majlis al-Watani al-Ittihadi) is the federal authority of the United Arab Emirates formed to represent the general emirati people. The FNC consist of 40 members with advisory tasks in the house of legislative council. Twenty members are elected by the citizens of the UAE through the general election and the other half are elected by the electoral college and rulers of each emirate. The FNC assembly hall is located in the Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE. The National Election Committee (NEC) conducts the election and authorized to nominate the electoral college members any citizen can be selected as a member. The NEC was established in February 2011 by a consensus of the UAE Supreme Council and chaired by the Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs. The NEC have the authority to lookafter the election of representatives from all the emirates of the UAE to the Federal National Council (FNC). The Federal National Council (FNC) was formed under the Provisional Constitution of the United Arab Emirates in 1971 as a permanent component of the country's governing structure, which also includes the Supreme

0 comments

10.00

1 votes

88

National Assembly of Benin

Jurisdiction: Benin

The unicameral National Assembly is Benin's legislative body. The current National Assembly has 83 members who are directly elected through a system of party-list proportional representation and serve five-year terms.

0 comments

6.50

4 votes

89

National Assembly of Kuwait

Jurisdiction: Kuwait

The National Assembly, known as the Majlis Al-Umma ("House of the Nation") (Arabic: مجلس الأمة‎), is the legislature of Kuwait. The current speaker of the house is Ahmed Al-Saadoun. The Emir unconstitutionally dissolved the house in 1986 and restored it after the Gulf War in 1992. The Emir has also constitutionally dissolved the house several times—meaning that he dissolved it but allowed for elections immediately afterward. Until recently, suffrage was limited to male Kuwaiti citizens above the age of 21 whose ancestors had resided in Kuwait since 1920, and adult males who have been naturalized citizens for at least 20 years. On May 16, 2005, the house passed a law in support of women's suffrage, allowing women to vote and run for office. The fifty-seat house is elected every four years. Currently there are five geographically distributed electoral districts. Every eligible citizen is entitled to four votes, though one may choose to only cast one vote. The ten candidates with the most votes in each district win seats. Cabinet ministers (including the prime minister) are granted automatic membership in the Assembly, which increases the number of members in the house from fifty to

0 comments

6.50

4 votes

90

Oklahoma Legislature

Jurisdiction: Oklahoma
Component bodies: Oklahoma Senate

The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the biennial meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma. It is bicameral, comprising the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate, with all members elected directly by the people. The House of Representatives has 101 members, each serving a two-year term. The Senate has 48 members, each serving a four-year term. Members of both houses are elected from single member districts of equal population. Senators serve a staggered term, such that only half of the senate districts have elections in any election year. The Oklahoma Constitution vests all legislative powers of the state government in the Legislature. The Legislature exercises the legislative power by enacting Oklahoma law. The Legislature may legislate on any subject and has certain "necessary and proper" powers as may be required for carrying into effect the provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution. The powers of the Legislature are only limited by the powers reserved to the people, namely initiative and referendum. The Senate and House of Representatives are co-equal houses. However, there are some special powers granted to one chamber only. The

0 comments

6.50

4 votes

91

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Jurisdiction: Turkey

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM, Turkish: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi), usually referred to simply as the Meclis ("parliament"), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence. The parliament was fundamental in the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues to found a new state out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the World War I. There are 550 members of parliament (deputies) who are elected for a four-year term by the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system, from 85 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative provinces of Turkey (Istanbul is divided into three electoral districts whereas Ankara and İzmir are divided into two each because of their large populations). To avoid a hung parliament and its excessive political fragmentation, only parties that win at least 10% of the votes cast in a national parliamentary election gain the right to representation in the parliament. As a result of this threshold, only two parties were able to

0 comments

8.50

2 votes

92

Parliament of India

Jurisdiction: India
Component bodies: Lok Sabha

The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament comprises the President of India and the two Houses—Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The President has the power to summon and prorogue either House of Parliament or to dissolve Lok Sabha. India's Parliament is bicameral; Rajya Sabha is the upper house and Lok Sabha is the lower house. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in Sansad Bhavan (located on the Sansad Marg), New Delhi. Those elected or nominated (by the President) to either house of Parliament are referred to as Members of Parliament or MPs. The MPs of Lok Sabha are directly elected by the Indian public and the MPs of Rajya Sabha are elected by the members of the State Legislative Assemblies, in accordance with proportional representation. The Parliament is composed of 790 MPs, who serve the largest democratic electorate in the world; 714 million Indians registered to vote in the 2009 general elections. The main functions of parliament are : The Indian Parliament consists

0 comments

8.50

2 votes

93

Parliament of Nepal

Jurisdiction: Nepal
Component bodies: Nepal House of Representatives

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. In 2004 the king announced that parliamentary elections would be held within twelve months; in April 2006, in response to major pro-democratic protests, it was announced that Parliament would be reestablished. On January 15, 2007, the old parliament was dissolved and replaced by the 330-member interim legislature of Nepal. During the time the 1990 Constitution was in effect, Nepal had a two chamber Parliament (Sansad): Women’s representation in the Parliament of Nepal has increased in the Constituent Assembly, which will have immense role to draft the future constitution of Nepal.

0 comments

8.50

2 votes

94

Edmonton City Council

Jurisdiction: Edmonton

The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors. Until 2010, Edmonton was divided in six wards with two councillors representing citizens in each ward. On July 22, 2009, City Council voted to change the electoral system of six wards to a system of 12 wards; each represented by a single councillor, the changes took effect in the 2010 election. City Council's current membership was elected in 2010 and will serve until the 2013 election. In 1980, Edmonton adopted a ward system in which two councillors (aldermen until 1995) would be elected from each of six wards. In 1971, Edmonton adopted a ward system in which three aldermen would be elected from each of four wards. In 1968 Alberta's legislation changed to require elections every three years in all of the province's municipalities. In 1964 Edmonton unstaggered its terms for city officials, meaning that elections were held only every two years. Additionally, all alderman became elected at-large and two new aldermanic positions were added, bringing the total to twelve. In preparation for this, in 1963 the mayor and all

0 comments

7.33

3 votes

95

Gibraltar House of Assembly

Jurisdiction: Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Parliament is the legislature of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Between 1969 and 2006 it was called the Gibraltar House of Assembly. The House of Assembly, set up under the 1969 constitution, was a unicameral body originally consisting of 15 members elected by the Gibraltar electorate, plus two appointed members including the Attorney-General. The term "House of Assembly" has been commonly used for the legislatures of British territories that are less than fully sovereign. It was replaced by the current Gibraltar Parliament by the new 2006 constitution, reflecting an increase in its sovereignty. All 17 of the new Parliament's members are elected. Under the election system, each voter was allowed to vote for ten members of the Assembly. Due to the small area of Gibraltar and its territorial continuity, precincts served only as polling places, not political units, and there are no electoral districts served by the members, who were instead elected "at large" to serve the territory as a whole. The system lends itself to block voting – each of the parties or electoral coalitions tended to nominate a slate of eight candidates and encourage its supporters to

0 comments

7.33

3 votes

96

Riksdag

Jurisdiction: Sweden

The Riksdag (officially Swedish: riksdagen or Sveriges riksdag) is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members (Swedish: riksdagsledamöter), who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years. It is located in the Parliament House (Riksdagshuset), on the island of Helgeandsholmen in Stockholm. 175 seats are needed to make-up a majority. Riksdag is the direct Swedish equivalent of the German Reichstag. In the Swedish constitution, the word is written with a lower-case “r”, thus marking that it is actually not a name of the parliament, but that it is just “the parliament”. A precise English translation of this German-Nordic word does not actually exist, but "Meeting of the Realm" may serve as a literal translation, though perhaps "Diet of the Realm" would be more accurate (dag literally means "day", and is thus either cognate to the use of German tag for a Diet, or even a direct borrowing; the former comes from Latin dies with the same meaning). The word is also used by Swedish speakers for the parliaments of Finland (it is the official term used by the Swedish-speaking minority there) and Estonia, and for

0 comments

7.33

3 votes

97

Thunder Bay City Council

Jurisdiction: Thunder Bay

The Thunder Bay City Council is the governing body of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It consists of a mayor and twelve councillors. The mayor and five of the councillors are elected at large, with one councillor being elected for each of the city's seven wards: Current River, McIntyre, McKellar, Neebing, Northwood, Red River, and Westfort. Council members are elected to four year terms. The last election was held on October 25, 2010. Thunder Bay City Council meets at 6:30 PM on Monday evenings at Thunder Bay City Hall, located at 500 Donald Street East in the downtown core of the former city of Fort William. Council elected in the 2010 municipal election: Council elected in the 2006 municipal election:

0 comments

7.33

3 votes

98

Greater Sudbury City Council

Jurisdiction: Greater Sudbury

Greater Sudbury City Council is the governing body of the City of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the mayor plus a five-person council. The city is divided into twelve wards; each ward is represented by one councillor. The council meets at Tom Davies Square. The city was created by amalgamating the former City of Sudbury with six suburban municipalities on January 1, 2001. Initially, the council structure consisted of six wards, each represented by two councillors. Ward boundaries in the new city were drawn by grouping former suburban municipalities with adjacent neighbourhoods in the former city. For the 2006 municipal election, council was reorganized into twelve single-member wards. Past mayors of the city and the former suburban municipalities are listed at List of mayors of Sudbury, Ontario. Council elected in the 2000 municipal election: Council elected in the 2003 municipal election: Council elected in the 2006 municipal election: Council elected in the 2010 municipal election. From amalgamation in 2001 until reorganization in 2005, the wards were as follows:

0 comments

6.25

4 votes

99

Legislative Council of Saint Helena

Jurisdiction: Saint Helena

The Legislative Council of Saint Helena has 15 members, 12 members elected for a four-year term by popular vote and 3 members ex officio (appointed by the Governor). Members of the Council are referred to as Councillors and sometimes use the suffix "MLC" (Member of the Legislative Council). Saint Helena is divided into eight districts, each with a community centre. The districts also serve as statistical subdivisions and electoral areas. The four most populated districts send two representatives each to the Council, and the remaining districts send one representative each.

0 comments

6.25

4 votes

100

Malolos Congress

Jurisdiction: First Philippine Republic

The Malolos Congress was the constituent assembly of the First Philippine Republic. It drafted the Malolos Constitution. Following the declaration of independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 and transformation of the dictatorial government to a revolutionary government on 23 June, the Malolos Congress election was held between June 23 and September 10. On 15 September 1898, the revolutionary congress convened in Barasoain Church in Malolos (now Malolos City, Bulacan) with Pedro Paterno as president and Gregorio S. Araneta as vice president. On 29 September, the 12 June Declaration of independence was ratified. The congress then decided to draft a Constitution, a decision opposed by Apolinario Mabini, the Prime Minister of the revolutionary government. The resulting Malolos Constitution was ratified on November 29, 1898, signed into law on December 23, approved on January 20, 1899, sanctioned by President Emilio Aguinaldo on January 21, and promulgated on January 22. The document states that the people have exclusive sovereignty. It states basic civil rights, separated the church from the state, and called for the creation of an Assembly of Representatives which would act as the

0 comments

6.25

4 votes

101

Parliament of Australia

Jurisdiction: Australia
Component bodies: Australian House of Representatives

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, and combines the fused executive of the Westminster System with the federalist senate of the United States Congress. Under Section 1 of the Constitution of Australia, Parliament consists of three components: the Queen, represented within Australia by the Governor-General, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. The upper house, the Senate, consists of 76 members: twelve for each state, and two for each mainland territory. Senators are elected using a form of proportional voting. The lower house, the House of Representatives, currently consists of 150 members, who represent districts known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats"). The number of members is not fixed, but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, which are required on a regular basis. The most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election, increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election, returned

0 comments

5.40

5 votes

102

United States Congress

Jurisdiction: United States of America
Component bodies: United States Senate

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate, its upper house, and the House of Representatives, its lower house. Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both representatives and senators are chosen through direct election. There are 535 voting Members of Congress(the House of Representatives' membership of 435 plus the Senate membership of 100). Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by population using the United States Census results, each state in the union having at least one representative in the Congress. Regardless of population, each of the 50 states has two senators; the 100 senators each serve a six-year term. The terms are staggered so every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election. Each staggered group of one-third of the senators are called 'classes'. No state of the United States has two senators from the same class. Most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent. In

0 comments

5.40

5 votes

103

Dáil Éireann

Jurisdiction: Ireland
Body this is a component of: Oireachtas

Dáil Éireann (/dɔɪl ˈɛərɒn/; Irish: [d̪ˠaːlʲ ˈeːrʲən̪ˠ]) is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house). It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV). Its powers are similar to those of lower houses under many other bicameral parliamentary systems and it is by far the dominant branch of the Oireachtas. Subject to the limits imposed by the Constitution of Ireland, it has power to pass any law it wishes, and to nominate and remove the Taoiseach (head of government). Since 1922, it has met in Leinster House in Dublin. The name Dáil Éireann is taken from the Irish language but is the official title of the body in both English and Irish, including both language versions of the Irish constitution. Since the Dáil was first established in 1919 it has also been described variously as a "National Assembly", a "Chamber of Deputies" and a "House of Representatives". A dáil means an assembly or parliament, so a literal translation of Dáil Éireann is "Assembly of Ireland".

0 comments

7.00

3 votes

104

Illinois Senate

Jurisdiction: Illinois
Body this is a component of: Illinois General Assembly

The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the state of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. The Illinois Senate is made up of 59 senators elected from individual legislative districts determined by population. Under the Illinois Constitution of 1970, senators are divided into three groups, each group having a two-year term at a different part of the decade between censuses, with the rest of the decade being taken up by two four-year terms. Depending on the election year, roughly one-third, two-thirds, or all Senate seats may be contested. In contrast, the Illinois House of Representatives is made up of 118 members with its entire membership elected to two-year terms. House districts are formed by dividing each Senate district in half. The Illinois Senate convenes at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Its first official working day is the second Wednesday of January each year. Its primary duties are to pass bills into law, approve the state budget, confirm appointments to state departments and agencies, act on federal

0 comments

7.00

3 votes

105

National Congress of Brazil

Jurisdiction: Brazil
Component bodies: Chamber of Deputies of Brazil

The National Congress of Brazil (Portuguese: Congresso Nacional do Brasil) is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate (the upper house) and the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house). The Senate represents the 26 states and the Federal District. Each State and the Federal District has a representation of three Senators, who are elected by popular ballot for a term of eight years. Every four years, renewal of either one third or two-thirds of the Senate (and of the delegations of the States and the Federal District) takes place. When one seat is up for election in each State, each voter casts one vote for the Senate; when two seats are up for election, each voter casts two votes, and the voter cannot give his two votes for the same candidate, but, in elections for the renewal of two-thirds of the Senate, each party can present two candidates for election. The candidate in each State and the Federal District (or the first two candidates, when two thirds of the seats are up for election) who achieve the greatest plurality of votes are

0 comments

7.00

3 votes

106

Federation Council of Russia

Jurisdiction: Russia
Body this is a component of: Federal Assembly of Russia

Federation Council (Russian: Сове́т Федера́ции; Sovet Federatsii) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (the parliament of the Russian Federation), according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation. Each of the 83 federal subjects of Russia - consisting of 21 republics, 46 oblasts, nine krais, two federal cities, four autonomous okrugs, and one autonomous oblast - sends two senators to the Council, for a total membership of 166 Councillors . The Council holds its sessions within the Main Building on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street in Moscow, the former home of the Soviet State Building Agency (Gosstroy), with further offices and committee rooms located on Novy Arbat Street. The two houses of the Federal Assembly are physically separated, with the State Duma residing in another part of Moscow. Sessions of the Federation Council are held in Moscow from January 25 to July 15, and from September 16 to December 31. Sessions are open to the public, although the location of sessions can be changed if the Federation Council so desires, and secure closed sessions may be convoked. The modern history of the Federation Council begins during the 1993 Constitutional Crisis

0 comments

6.00

4 votes

107

National Assembly of South Korea

Jurisdiction: South Korea

The National Assembly (Korean: 국회, Gukhoe, hanja: 國會) is the 300-member unicameral legislature of South Korea. The latest legislative elections were held on 11 April 2012. Single-member constituencies comprise 246 of the assembly's seats, while the remaining 54 are allocated by proportional representation. Members serve four-year terms. The unicameral assembly consists of at least 200 members according to the Constitution. In 1990 the assembly had 299 seats, 224 of which were directly elected from single-member districts in the general elections of April 1988. Under applicable laws, the remaining seventy-five representatives were appointed by the political parties in accordance with a proportional formula based on the number of seats won in the election. By law, candidates for election to the assembly must be at least thirty years of age. As part of a political compromise in 1987, an earlier requirement that candidates have at least five years' continuous residency in the country was dropped to allow Kim Dae-jung, who had spent several years in exile in Japan and the United States during the 1980s, to return to political life. The National Assembly's term is four years. In a change

0 comments

6.00

4 votes

108

Seimas

Jurisdiction: Lithuania

The Seimas (full name: Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic, Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas) is the unicameral 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 (71), and the other half (70) are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation. A party must receive at least 5%, and a multi-party union at least 7%, of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas. The word "Seimas" comes from a Polish word "Sejm" which means parliament in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Seimas uses parallel voting, with elections for the 70 proportional seats and the 71 constituency seats held on separate days. The proportional seats are allocated by the Hare quota, with a 5% election threshold (or 7% for electoral alliances) to gain list seats. Summary of the 12 October and 26 October 2008 Lithuanian Seimas election results Seimas Palace (Lithuanian: Seimo Rūmai) was designed by architects Algimantas Nasvytis, his brother Vytautas Nasvytis, and Robertas Stasėnas. In the Seimas there are four plenary sitting a week - two on Tuesday and two on

0 comments

6.00

4 votes

109

Althing

Jurisdiction: Iceland

The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament (literally, "(the) all-thing", or general assembly) of Iceland. The Althing is the oldest extant parliamentary institution in the world. It was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, (the "assembly fields" or "Parliament Plains"), situated approximately 45 km east of what later became the country's capital, Reykjavík, and this event marked the beginning of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Even after Iceland's union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1799, when it was discontinued for 45 years. It was restored in 1844 and moved to Reykjavík, where it has resided ever since. The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, of hewn Icelandic stone. The constitution of Iceland provides for six electoral constituencies with the possibility of an increase to seven. The constituency boundaries are fixed by legislation. Each constituency elects nine members. In addition, each party is allocated seats based on its proportion of the overall national vote in order that the number of members in parliament for each political party should be more or less

0 comments

8.00

2 votes

110

Assembly of People's Representatives of Kyrgyzstan

Jurisdiction: Kyrgyzstan
Body this is a component of: Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan

The Assembly of People's Representatives of Kyrgyzstan (El Okuldor Jyiyny) was one of the two chambers of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan. The Assembly had 45 members, elected to five year terms in single-seat constituencies. It was abolished when the latest constitution unicamerialized the Council

0 comments

8.00

2 votes

111

Bundestag

Jurisdiction: Germany

The Bundestag (Federal Diet; pronounced [ˈbʊndəstaːk]) is a legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag was established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier Reichstag. It meets in the Reichstag Building in Berlin. Norbert Lammert is the current President of the Bundestag. With the dissolution of the German Confederation in 1866 and the founding of the German Empire (Deutsches Reich) in 1871, the Reichstag was established as the German parliament in Berlin. Two decades later, the current parliament building was erected. The Reichstag delegates were elected by direct and equal male suffrage (and not the three-class electoral system prevailing in Prussia until 1918). The Reichstag did not participate in the appointment of the Chancellor until the parliamentary reforms of October 1918. After the Revolution of November 1918 and the establishment of the Weimar Constitution, women were given the right to vote for (and serve in) the Reichstag, and the parliament could use the no-confidence vote to force the chancellor or

0 comments

8.00

2 votes

112

California State Legislature

Jurisdiction: California
Component bodies: California State Assembly

The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. New legislators convene each new two-year session, to organize, in the Assembly and Senate Chambers, respectively, at noon on the first Monday in December following the election. After the organizational meeting, both houses are in recess until the first Monday in January, except when the first Monday is January 1 or January 1 is a Sunday, in which case they meet the following Wednesday. The California State Legislature currently has a Democratic majority, with the Senate consisting of 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans and the Assembly consisting of 52 Democrats and 28 Republicans. Except for the period from 1995 to 1996, the Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 election (even while the governor's office has gone back and forth between Republicans and Democrats). The Senate has been in Democratic hands continuously since 1970. Since California was given official statehood by the U.S. in September 9, 1850 as part

0 comments

8.00

2 votes

113

Minneapolis City Council

Jurisdiction: Minneapolis

The Minneapolis City Council is the governing body of the City of Minneapolis. The City Council is composed of 13 single member districts, called wards. Barbara Johnson (Democratic-Farmer-Labor [or DFL], Ward 4) is president of the council. The council is dominated by members of the DFL Party with 12 members. The Green Party has one member. The city has never had more than 13 wards, but at one time there were three representatives from each area, for a total of 39 city council members. The council assumed its current size in the 1950s. Because of a quirk in the election cycle, 2005 marks the first Council races since post-2000-Census redistricting. There were no Republican candidates for either Mayor or any City Council post in the 2005 election, however one Republican ran for the Library Board. The council elected in 2009, and which took office in January 2010, is composed of: In July 2001, Brian Herron (DFL) pleaded guilty to one count of felony extortion. He admitted to accepting a $10,000 bribe from a business owner who faced numerous health and safety inspections violations. Herron served a one year sentence in federal prison. On November 21, 2002 10 year Council Member Joe

0 comments

8.00

2 votes

114

National Assembly of Venezuela

Jurisdiction: Venezuela

The National Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional) is the legislative branch of the Venezuelan government. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based party-list proportional representation system. The number of seats is not constant, each state and the Capital district elect three representatives plus the result of dividing the state population by 1.1% of the total population of the country. Three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples and elected separately by all citizens, not just those with indigenous backgrounds. For the 2010-2015 period the number of seats is 165. All deputies serve five-year terms. The National Assembly meets in the Federal Legislative Palace in Venezuela's capital, Caracas. Under its previous 1961 Constitution, Venezuela had a bicameral legislature, known as the Congress (Congreso). This Congress was composed of a Senate (Senado) and a Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados). The Senate was made up of two senators per state, two for the Federal

0 comments

8.00

2 votes

115

Supreme Court of the United States

Jurisdiction: United States of America
Body this is a component of: United States federal courts

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate (but largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal courts and over state court cases involving issues of federal law, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases. The Court, which meets in the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate. Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, or are removed after impeachment. Under Chief Justices Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth (1789–1801), the Court heard few cases; its first decision was West v. Barnes (1791), a case involving a procedural issue. The Court lacked a home of its own and had little prestige, a situation not helped by the highest-profile case of the era, Chisholm v. Georgia, which was immediately repudiated by the Eleventh Amendment. The Court's power and prestige waxed during the Marshall Court (1801–1835). Under Marshall, the Court established the principle of judicial review, including specifying itself as the supreme expositor of the

0 comments

8.00

2 votes

116

Landtag of Bavaria

Jurisdiction: Bavaria

The Landtag of Bavaria (English: State Diet of Bavaria) is the unicameral legislature of the state of Bavaria in Germany. Between 1946 and 1999 there was an upper house, the Senate of Bavaria. The parliament meets in the Maximilianeum. Elections to the Landtag are held every five years and have to be conducted on a Sunday or public holiday. The following elections have to be held no earlier than 59 months and no later than 62 months after the previous one, unless the Landtag is dissolved. The most recent elections to the Bavarian Landtag were held on 28 September 2008. The 2008 Bavarian Landtag elections saw a drop-off in support for the Christian Social Union, which has dominated politics in the state since the 1950s. Elections are conducted using a proportional representation system. A minimum 5% share of the votes is required under German law in order for a party to receive any seats. The state government is formed by the CSU. Günther Beckstein has been Minister President of Bavaria since September 2007, when he succeeded Edmund Stoiber, who had been Minister President since 1998. In October 2008 Horst Seehofer became the current Minister President. Their mutual party, the CSU,

0 comments

9.00

1 votes

117

Manchester City Council

Jurisdiction: Manchester

Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party. The Council is led by Sir Richard Leese with Sir Howard Bernstein as chief executive. Many, but not all, of the council's staff are based at Manchester Town Hall. Manchester was incorporated in 1838 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 as the Corporation of Manchester or Manchester Corporation. It achieved city status in 1853, only the second such grant since the Reformation. The area included in the city has been increased many times, in 1885 (Bradford, Harpurhey and Rusholme), 1890 (Blackley, Crumpsall, part of Droylsden, Kirkmanshulme, Moston, Newton Heath, Openshaw, and West Gorton), 1903 (Heaton), 1904 (Burnage, Chorlton cum Hardy, Didsbury, and Moss Side), 1909 (Gorton, and Levenshulme), 1931 (Wythenshawe: Baguley, Northenden, and Northen Etchells), and Ringway. A new Town Hall was opened in 1877 (by Alderman Abel Heywood) and the Mayor of Manchester was granted the title of Lord Mayor in

0 comments

9.00

1 votes

118

National Assembly of Azerbaijan

Jurisdiction: Azerbaijan

The National Assembly (Azerbaijani: Milli Məclis), also transliterated as Milli Majlis is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies and 25 were members elected by proportional representation; as of the latest election, however, all 125 deputies are returned from single-member constituencies. Milli Majlis was the first secular republican parliament in the Muslim world. Following the Russian Revolution in February 1917, a special committee consisting of deputees from Transcaucasian State Duma was created. In November, Transcaucasian Commissariat was created as the first government of independent Transcaucasia. The Sejm made up from representatives of three nations did not have a solid political platform as each nation looked after its own interests. This subsequently led to dissolution of the Sejm on May 25, 1918. On May 27, 44 Muslim deputees of the Sejm gathered in Tbilisi and established Azerbaijan National Council to form the government of Azerbaijan. Mammad Emin Rasulzade was elected its chairman. On May 28, the National Council

0 comments

9.00

1 votes

119

National Assembly of the Philippines

The National Assembly (Filipino: Pambansang Asamblea) refers to the legislature of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1941, and the Second Philippine Republic. The National Assembly of the Commonwealth of the Philippines was created under the 1935 Constitution, which served as the Philippines' fundamental law to prepare it for its independence from the United States. However, at the advent of the Second World War in the Pacific, anticipating an imminent Japanese occupation, the Commonwealth government went into exile to the United States. It left behind a skeletal bureaucracy whose officials were made by the Japanese to form a government. In an attempt to win the loyalty of the Filipinos, the Japanese established a nominally independent Republic of the Philippines, under the 1943 Constitution, which also provided for a National Assembly as its legislative body. The Philippine Republic established under Japanese auspices were only recognized mainly by the Axis powers. Prior to 1935, the Philippine Islands, an insular area of the United States had the bicameral Philippine Legislature as its legislative body. The Philippine Legislature was established in 1907 and

0 comments

9.00

1 votes

120

National Council of Switzerland

Jurisdiction: Switzerland
Body this is a component of: Federal Assembly of Switzerland

The National Council (German: Nationalrat, French: Conseil National, Italian: Consiglio Nazionale, Romansh: Cussegl Naziunal) is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. With 200 seats, it is the larger of the two houses. The National Council is elected by Swiss adult citizens, as is most of the Swiss Council of States. There were 4.6 million citizens old enough to vote in 2003. Members, called 'National Councillors', serve for four-year terms. Each of the 26 cantons is a constituency. The number of deputies of each constituency depends on the population of the canton, but a canton must have at least one deputy. Each voter gets to elect the deputies of the canton he or she lives in and thus, each voter has as many votes as there are deputies to elect. A voter cannot give more than two votes to the same person. Note that a voter can vote for persons of different parties making it impossible to count the number of votes a party has received at the national level. To determine a party's strength the notion of "fictional voter" has to be introduced and is defined by the Swiss Federal Statistical Institute as such: number of votes obtain by party A * number of valid

0 comments

9.00

1 votes

121

Parliament of Singapore

Jurisdiction: Singapore

The Parliament of the Republic of Singapore and the President jointly make up the legislature of Singapore. Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) who are appointed. Following the 2011 general election, 87 MPs were elected, and three NCMPs appointed to the 12th Parliament. Nine NMPs were appointed during the first session of this Parliament. As the first sitting of the 12th Parliament took place on 10 October 2011, its term will end on 9 October 2016 and the next general election must be held by 8 January 2017, unless Parliament is dissolved earlier. Between 1819, when modern Singapore was founded, and 1867, the lawmaking authorities were the British government in India and the Parliament of the United Kingdom. After the Straits Settlements (Malacca, Penang, and Singapore) became a Crown colony, this function was taken over by the Settlements' Legislative Council, which was an unelected body. Following World War II the Straits Settlements were dissolved and Singapore became a colony in its own right with its own Legislative Council.

0 comments

9.00

1 votes

122

Swiss Council of States

Jurisdiction: Switzerland
Body this is a component of: Federal Assembly of Switzerland

The Council of States (German: Ständerat, French: Conseil des Etats, Italian: Consiglio degli Stati, Romansh: Cussegl dals Stadis) is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors. Twenty of the country's cantons send two Councillors each. Some cantons, namely Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden, send one Councillor each. The latter six have traditionally been considered "half cantons", because of historical reasons, but in practice operate as full cantons. The Councillors serve for four years, and are not bound in their vote to instructions from the Cantonal authorities. Under the Swiss Federal Constitution, the mode of election is left to the cantons, the proviso being that it must be a democratic method; however, all cantons now provide for the councillors to be chosen by popular election. In all Cantons except for Zug and Appenzell Innerrhoden, the Councillors are elected concurrently with the members of the National Council. In the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden the representatives are elected by the physically convened popular

0 comments

9.00

1 votes

123

National Assembly of Bulgaria

Jurisdiction: Bulgaria

The National Assembly (Bulgarian: Народно събрание, Narodno sabranie) is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of Bulgaria. The National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. The National Assembly consists of 240 members(258 if the ministers are included) elected for a four-year term. 209 of the representatives are elected by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies and 31 are elected in single-seat constituencies according to the last amendment of the Electoral law governing parliamentary elections, promulgated SG 36th edition on 15 May 2009. Political parties must gather a minimum of 4% of the national vote in order to enter the Assembly. Bulgaria has a multi-party system. Obtaining of all state power by a single party is forbidden according to the articles of 1991 Constitution of Bulgaria. The Assembly is responsible for enactment of laws, approval of the budget, scheduling of presidential elections, selection and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers, declaration of war, concluding peace and deployment of troops outside of Bulgaria, and ratification of international treaties and agreements. It is headed and

0 comments

5.75

4 votes

124

Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia

Jurisdiction: Republic of Macedonia

The Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, the Assembly (Собрание, Sobranie), has 123 members, elected for a four year term, by proportional representation from 6 electoral districts, each contributing 20 MPs. Voter turnout was 63,48%. 7,851 accredited observers monitored the election, including representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, ODIHR, and others. The election went smoothly and without incidents. Only five parties and coalitions, of the 18 listed on the ballots, won parliamentary seats. Several parties that were represented in the previous parliaments didn't win any seats, including VMRO-NP, LDP, and others.

0 comments

7.50

2 votes

125

Canadian House of Commons

Jurisdiction: Canada

The House of Commons of Canada (French: Chambre des communes du Canada) is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign (represented by the Governor General) and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, whose members are known as Members of Parliament (MPs). There are 308 members as of 2011, but that will rise to 338 for the next election. Members are elected by simple plurality ('first-past-the-post' system) in each of the country's electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ridings. MPs may hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to five years after an election. Historically however, terms have ended before their expiry and the sitting government has typically dissolved parliament within four years of an election according to a long-standing convention. Notwithstanding this, an Act of Parliament now limits each term to four years. Seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in proportion to the population of each province and territory. However, some ridings are more populous than others and the Canadian constitution contains some special provisions regarding

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7.50

2 votes

126

Chamber of Deputies of Mexico

Jurisdiction: Mexico
Body this is a component of: Congress of Mexico

The Chamber of Deputies (in Spanish: Cámara de Diputados) is the lower house of the Congress of the Union, Mexico's bicameral legislature. The structure and responsibilities of both chambers of Congress are defined in Articles 50 to 70 of the current constitution. The Chamber of Deputies is composed of one federal representative (in Spanish: diputado federal) for every 200,000 citizens. Currently (as of 2006 election) there are 500 deputies. Of these, 300 "majority deputies" are directly elected by plurality from single-member districts (Federal Electoral Districts). The remaining 200 "party deputies" are assigned through rules of proportional representation. These seats are not tied to districts; rather, they are allocated to parties based on each party's share of the national vote. The 200 party deputies are intended to counterbalance the sectional interests of the district-based representatives. Substitutes are elected at the same time as each deputy. The Chamber of Deputies is completely replaced every three years since seats are not subject to reelection and deputies are not permitted to serve consecutive terms. Congressional elections held halfway into the president's six

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7.50

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127

Cleveland City Council

Jurisdiction: Cleveland

Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Cleveland in Ohio. Its members are elected from 19 wards to four-year terms. The number of council members has decreased over the years. In 1885 there were 50 council members, by the 1960s there were 33, and in 1981 Cleveland voters approved reducing council to 21 members. In November 2008, Cleveland voters passed a charter amendment linking the size of City Council to the city's population. City Council approved a redistricting plan in March 2009 reducing the number of wards to 19 at the start of the 2010–2013 term. Thereafter, the number of wards will be tied to the population identified in the decennial United States Census. The Cleveland City Council chambers are located in Cleveland City Hall, across the street from Public Auditorium. The members of Cleveland City Council are listed below in the order of the ward they serve.

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7.50

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128

Knesset

Jurisdiction: Israel
Component bodies: Emek Hayarden Regional Council

The Knesset (Hebrew: הַכְּנֶסֶת‎‎ [haˈkneset] ( listen); lit. the gathering or assembly; Arabic: الكنيست‎ Al-Kinīsat) is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem. The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister (although the latter is ceremonially appointed by the President), approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government. In addition, it also recommends a candidate for the State Comptroller to the President, who appoints someone to the post. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the President and the State Comptroller from office, remove a Prime Minister convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The Prime Minister may dissolve the Knesset. However, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition. Knesset members annually convene for plenary assemblies, or plenums, for two annual sittings of at least eight months' duration. The two sittings together form a session. The Knesset may be convened at any other time if thirty or more members

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129

National Assembly of Armenia

Jurisdiction: Armenia

The National Assembly (Armenian: Ազգային Ժողով, Azgayin Zhoghov) is the legislative branch of the government of Armenia. Until the promulgation of the Hatt-i Sharif of 1839, the patriarch and his clients, within limits, possessed authority over Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire. The first step to Constitutional parliamentary activity still in the 19th century began with the Armenian National Constitution of 1860 in the Ottoman Empire. In line with this particular constitutional document Armenian National Assembly (Ottoman Empire) began to convene its sessions with 140 members. It dealt with the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire's domestic activity, as well as national, religious, educational, cultural and other issues. In 1917 the February revolution caused great changes and sociopolitical shifts in the vast Russian Armenia. The first steps were undertaken towards democratization of the Democratic Republic of Armenia. National life awoke and national self-consciousness grew through Armenian National Councils which established the Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians. At the initiative of the Armenian political parties mainly Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Armenian national

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7.50

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130

Palestinian Legislative Council

The Palestinian Legislative Council, (sometimes referred to as the Palestinian Parliament) the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza. The headquarters of the Palestinian Legislative Council is in Rimal, Gaza. The Palestinian Legislative Council passed a new law in June 2005 increasing the number of members from 88 to 132, stipulating that half be elected under a system of proportional representation and half by plurality-at-large voting in traditional constituencies. New parliamentary polls took place on January 25, 2006. The Palestinian legislative council has been unable to meet and govern since 2007 due to the Israeli imprisonment of some members, the Fatah–Hamas conflict and the indefinite postponing of elections by the Fatah leadership. Ahmed Qurei, former Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority from October 7, 2003 to January 26, 2006, when he resigned after Hamas' victory in the 2006 legislative election. The European Union supplied election observers to assess the whole election process, including the legal

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7.50

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131

Portland, Oregon City Council

Jurisdiction: Portland

The Government of Portland, Oregon, a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, is based on a city commission government system. Elected officials include a Mayor, a City Council, and a City Auditor. The mayor and commissioners (members of City Council) are responsible for legislative policy and oversee the various bureaus that oversee the day-to-day operation of the city. The auditor is responsible for ensuring that the government operates in good faith. Each elected official serves a four-year term, without term limits. Current City Commissioners are: Dan Saltzman (re-elected in 2006), with Amanda Fritz (elected in November 2008), Randy Leonard (re-elected in November 2008), Nick Fish (elected in May 2008), and Mayor Sam Adams (elected in May 2008). The Auditor is LaVonne Griffin-Valade. In May 2007, Portland citizens rejected a ballot measure which would have changed city government to a strong mayor system. Similar changes have been proposed and rejected several times over the years. The Portland Charter was the subject of much debate circa 1911–1912. Rival charters were drafted by four different groups, including the "official charter committee," appointed by the mayor; the "people's

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7.50

2 votes

132

South Australian Legislative Council

Jurisdiction: South Australia
Body this is a component of: Parliament of South Australia

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. It has 22 members elected for eight-year terms by proportional representation, with half the members facing re-election every four years. It is elected in a similar manner to its federal counterpart, the Australian Senate. Casual vacancies - where someone resigns or dies - are filled by a joint sitting of both houses, who then elect a replacement. As of the 2010 election, the upper house consists of eight Labor, seven Liberal, two Green, two Family First, two No Pokies and one Dignity for Disability. The Legislative Council was the first parliament in South Australia, having been created in 1840, seventeen years before the Assembly. It was originally appointed by the Governor, and only served in an advisory capacity, as the governor retained almost all legislative powers. It was expanded slightly in 1843, when several prominent landowners were allowed to join. In the same year, proceedings were

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7.50

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133

States-General of the Netherlands

Jurisdiction: Netherlands
Component bodies: Tweede Kamer

The States-General of the Netherlands (Dutch: Staten-Generaal) is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) and the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer). The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes ("estates") in which medieval European societies were stratified (the clergy, the nobility and the commons). As in the United Kingdom the meaning of "the Commons" widened from just the social class, to the assembly in which those were represented; so in Dutch "staten" became to mean the political body in which the respective classes were (more or less) united. Dutch explorers named several places "Staten Island", a name that derives from the name of the parliament. The States-General meets in joint session at least once a year, at the opening of the parliamentary year, when the queen gives her Speech from the Throne on Day of the Princelings. On special occasions, such as when the States-General vote on a marriage of a member of the royal house, when a king is inaugurated or when a member of the royal house dies, both houses also meet in a joint session

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134

United Nations

The United Nations (abbreviated UN in English, and ONU in French and Spanish), is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions. There are 193 member states, including every internationally recognized sovereign state in the world but Vatican City. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. The organization has six principal organs: the General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly); the Security Council (for deciding certain resolutions for peace and security); the Economic and Social Council (for assisting in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); the Secretariat (for providing studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); the

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135

United States Department of Transportation

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967. It is governed by the United States Secretary of Transportation. Its mission is to "Serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future." Prior to the Department of Transportation, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation administered the functions now associated with the DOT. In 1965, Najeeb Halaby, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), suggested to President Lyndon B. Johnson that transportation be elevated to a cabinet-level post, and that the FAA be folded into the DOT. The DOT will award $742.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to 11 transit projects. The awardees include light rail projects. Other projects include both a commuter rail extension and a subway project in New York, New

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7.50

2 votes

136

Winnipeg City Council

Jurisdiction: Winnipeg

The Winnipeg City Council is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors. Council elected in the 2010 election: Council elected in the 2006 election:

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7.50

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137

National Assembly of Suriname

Jurisdiction: Suriname

The National Assembly (De Nationale Assemblée, The Assembly, commonly abbreviated "DNA") is the Parliament, representing the legislative branch of government in Suriname. It is a unicameral legislature. The assembly is situated at the Independence Square in Paramaribo, after a fire completely destroyed the old building of representation on August 1, 1996. The 51 members of parliament are elected every five years by proportional representation on the basis of the country's component districts. The most recent elections were held on May 25, 2010. On May 30, Jennifer Simons was appointed as Chair of the assembly. Ruth Wijdenbosch was the first woman to be appointed as Vice Chair. The first representation was formed by the Colonial States, from 1866. The name was changed to States of Suriname in 1936. When Suriname became an independent republic on November 25, 1975, the representation was named Parliament of the Republic of Suriname. his Parliament was made inoperative during the Coup d'état of 1980. In 1985 the Parliament was replaced by an appointed Assembly. The National Assembly, in its current form, dates from 1987. In that year democracy was reestablished after the coup and a

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5.50

4 votes

138

Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan

Jurisdiction: Tajikistan
Component bodies: National Assembly of Tajikistan

The Supreme Assembly (Majlisi Oli), Tajikistan's parliament, has two chambers: The bicameral legislature was introduced in the September 1999 constitution. Prior to that Tajikistan had a unicameral legislature. The current chairman of Majlisi namyandagon is Shukurjon Zuhurov

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5.50

4 votes

139

Guelph City Council

Jurisdiction: Guelph

Guelph City Council is the governing body for the city of Guelph, Ontario. The council consists of the Mayor of Guelph and 12 ward councillors. Each ward elects 2 members to represent them. The council operates in the Guelph City Hall. Municipal elections are held every four years. The last election was on October 25, 2010. Guelph is divided up into six wards, or sections. The areas east of and including most of downtown and the area east of the University of Guelph are considered Ward 1. The areas northeast of downtown are considered Ward 2, Ward 3 is in the central and some of the north ends, and Ward 4 is in the northwest end of the city. Ward 5 is the area south of downtown and north of Stone Road. This ward includes the University and Stone Road Mall. Finally, Ward 6 is better known as the "south end" of Guelph. This ward is south of Stone Road and, in recent years, has seen rapid residential development.

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6.33

3 votes

140

National Assembly of Tajikistan

Jurisdiction: Tajikistan
Body this is a component of: Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan

The parliament of Tajikistan, the Supreme Assembly (Majlisi Oli), has two chambers. The upper house is the National Assembly (Majlisi Milliy). The Assembly has 33 members, 25 elected for a five year term by local majlisi deputies and 8 appointed by the president.

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6.33

3 votes

141

Oireachtas

Jurisdiction: Ireland
Component bodies: Seanad Éireann

The Oireachtas (Irish pronunciation: [ˈɛrʲəxt̪ˠəsˠ]), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: The Houses of the Oireachtas sit in Leinster House in Dublin, an eighteenth-century ducal palace. The directly elected Dáil is by far the most powerful branch of the Oireachtas. The term oireachtas derives from the Old Irish word airech, meaning "nobleman". Its first recorded use as the name of a legislative body was within the Irish Free State. Dáil Éireann, the lower house, is directly elected under universal suffrage of all Irish and United Kingdom citizens who are resident and at least eighteen years of age. An election is held at least once in every five years as required by law. However the house can usually be dissolved at any time at the request of the Taoiseach (head of government). Dáil elections occur under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The Dáil has had 166 members since 1981. The Seanad is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members selected in a number of ways. 43 senators are elected by councillors and parliamentarians,

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6.33

3 votes

142

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Component bodies: British House of Commons

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories. It is located in Westminster, London. Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. At its head is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II. The parliament is bicameral, with an upper house, the House of Lords, and a lower house, the House of Commons. The Queen is the third component of the legislature. The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual (the senior bishops of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage) whose members are not elected by the population at large, but are appointed by the Sovereign on advice of the Prime Minister. Prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009 the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber with elections to it held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster

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6.33

3 votes

143

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor representatives. The BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the Department of Labor. The BLS data must satisfy a number of criteria, including relevance to current social and economic issues, timeliness in reflecting today’s rapidly changing economic conditions, accuracy and consistently high statistical quality, and impartiality in both subject matter and presentation. To avoid the appearance of partiality, the dates of major data releases are scheduled more than a year in advance, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget. The Bureau of Labor was established in the Department of the Interior by the Bureau of Labor Act (23 Stat. 60), June 27, 1884, to collect information about employment and labor. It became an

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6.33

3 votes

144

Canadian House of Commons Page Program

A House of Commons Page is a non-partisan employee of the Canadian House of Commons. They perform both ceremonial and administrative duties including: Pages work an average of 15 hours a week in the House of Commons while studying full-time at one of the four universities (University of Ottawa and Carleton University, UQO, Saint Paul University) in the National Capital Region and are paid approximately $12,000 (CDN) for their one-year term. Pages take part in a number of activities throughout the year designed to enrich the experience including meetings with MPs and government leaders as well as Page vs MP hockey games. They also meet frequently with student groups to explain the workings of the House and their duties as Pages. Forty graduating high school (or CEGEP in Quebec) students are selected each year to serve as Pages in the House of Commons. Applications are open to both male and female candidates from across the country. Pages must be fluently bilingual in both official languages of Canada (English and French) and pass a security screening by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. They are selected based on a written essay, a second-language interview along with a

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8.00

1 votes

145

Legislative Yuan

Jurisdiction: Taiwan

The Legislative Yuan (Chinese: 立法院; pinyin: Lìfǎ Yuàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Li̍p-hoat Īⁿ) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (ROC). The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches (called 'yuàn', "courts") of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People. Although sometimes referred to as a "parliament", the Legislative Yuan, under Sun's political theory, is a branch of government, while only the National Assembly of the Republic of China (now abolished), with the power to amend the constitution and formerly to elect the President and Vice President, could be considered a parliament. However, after constitutional amendments effectively transferring almost all of the National Assembly's powers to the Legislative Yuan in the late 1990s, it has become more common in Taiwanese newspapers to refer to the Legislative Yuan as the "parliament" (國會, guóhuì). Starting with the 2008 legislative elections, drastic changes were made to the Legislative Yuan in accordance with a constitutional amendment passed in 2005. The Legislative Yuan has 113 members, down from 225. Legislators come to office through

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8.00

1 votes

146

National Assembly of Uganda

Jurisdiction: Uganda

The unicameral Parliament of Uganda is the country's legislative body. The most significant of the institution's functions, is to pass laws which will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer to the people's representatives on the floor of the house.Through the various parliamentary committees, parliament scrutinises government programmes, particularly as outlined in the State of the Nation Address by the President. The fiscal issues of the government, such as, taxation and loans need the sanction of the parliament, after appropriate debate. The Ugandan Parliament comprises 215 Constituency Representatives, 79 District Woman Representatives, 10 Uganda People's Defence Forces Representatives, 5 Representatives of the Youth, 5 Representatives of Persons with Disabilities, 5 Representatives of Workers, and 13 Ex-officio Members. After the 2005 Referendum, the composition of parliament has changed. The Ugandan Parliament was established in 1962, soon after the country's independence. This body was then known as the Legislative Council (LEGCO). It had 92 members and was presided over, as Speaker, by Sir John Bowes Griffin, a British lawyer and

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8.00

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147

Parliament of South Australia

Jurisdiction: South Australia
Component bodies: South Australian House of Assembly

The Parliament of South Australia at Parliament House, Adelaide is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly (lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). It follows a Westminster system of parliamentary government. The Queen is represented in the State by the Governor of South Australia. According to the South Australian Constitution, unlike the Federal Parliament, and the parliaments of the other states and territories of Australia, neither the Sovereign or the Governor is considered to be a part of the South Australian Parliament. However, the same role and powers are granted to them. As of the 2010 election, the lower house consists of 26 Labor, 18 Liberal and 3 independent, while the upper house consists of 8 Labor, 7 Liberal, 2 Green, 2 Family First, 2 No Pokies and 1 Dignity for Disability. The House of Assembly (or "lower house") is made up of 47 members who are each elected by the full-preference instant-runoff voting system in single-member electorates. Each of the 47 electoral districts (electorates) contains approximately the same number of voters, and boundaries are

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8.00

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148

State Council of Ceylon

Jurisdiction: British Ceylon

The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It replaced the Legislative Council of Ceylon, the colony's original legislative body. There were only two State Councils: the First, elected in 1931, and the Second, elected in 1936. The 1947 Soulbury Constitution replaced the State Council with the Parliament of Ceylon, as part of a process of constitutional development leading up to independence, which took place on 4 February 1948. Due to Ceylonese demands for constitutional reform, a royal commission was established by the British authorities under the chairmanship of the Earl of Donoughmore. The Donoughmore Commission arrived in the colony in 1927, before returning to the United Kingdom where it issued its report. The Commission proposed reforms which were implemented as the so-called Donoughmore Constitution, resulting in the abolution of the Legislative Council of Ceylon as the colony's legislature, and its replacement by a "State Council" in 1931. The structure and working of the State

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8.00

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149

State Duma of the Russian Empire

Jurisdiction: Russian Empire

The State Duma was a legislative assembly in the late Russian Empire, which met in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It was convened four times between 1906 and the collapse of the Empire in 1917. Coming under pressure from the Russian Revolution of 1905, on August 6, 1905, Sergei Witte (appointed by Nicholas II to manage peace negotiations with Japan) issued a manifesto about the convocation of the Duma, initially thought to be a purely advisory body. In the subsequent October Manifesto, the Tsar pledged to introduce further civil liberties, provide for broad participation in a new "State Duma", and endow the Duma with legislative and oversight powers. The State Duma was to be the lower house of a parliament, and the State Council of Imperial Russia the upper house. However, Nicholas II was determined to retain his autocratic power. On April 23, 1906 (O.S.), the Tsar issued the Fundamental Laws, which gave him the title of "supreme autocrat". Although no law could be made without the Duma's assent, neither could the Duma pass laws without the approval of the noble-dominated State Council (half of which was to be appointed directly by the Tsar), and the Tsar himself retained a

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8.00

1 votes

150

Assembly of Representatives of Yemen

Jurisdiction: Yemen

The House of Representatives (Majlis al-Nuwaab) is the legislature of Yemen. The Assembly has 301 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies.

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7.00

2 votes

151

Burlington City Council

Jurisdiction: Burlington

Burlington City Council is the city council responsible for the city of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the mayor plus six councillors. Council elected in the 2006 municipal election: Council elected in the 2010 municipal election:

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7.00

2 votes

152

House of Federation

Jurisdiction: Ethiopia
Body this is a component of: Federal Parliamentary Assembly

The House of Federation (Amharic language የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት Yefedereshn Mekir Bet) is the upper house of the bicamerial Parliament of Ethiopia of Ethiopia. It has 112 members. Each Nation, Nationality and People shall be represented in the House of the Federation by at least one member. Each Nation or Nationality shall be represented by one additional representative for each one million of its population (Article 61:2 of the constitution). Members of the House of the Federation shall be elected by the State Councils. The State Councils may themselves elect representatives to the House of the Federation, or they may hold elections to have the representatives elected by the people directly (Article 61:3 of the constitution). The House of Federation has two committees and a Council of Constitutional Inquiry. Each committee consists of fifteen members including a chair person. The two committees are the Regional & Constitutional Affairs and Budget Subsidy & Revenue Affairs. The Committee for States' Affairs is responsible for taking measures which promote unity with the consent of peoples and manages the implementation of the rights of nations and nationalities that fall under the

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7.00

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153

Kelowna City Council

Jurisdiction: Kelowna

Kelowna City Council is the governing body for Kelowna, British Columbia. Mayor: Walter Gray Councilors: Robert Hobson, Gail Given, Colin Basran, Andre Blanleil, Luke Stack, Mohini Singh, Maxine DeHart, Gerry Zimmermann. Mayor: Sharon Shepherd Councilors: Robert Hobson, Brian Given, Andre Blanleil, Angela Reid, Michele Rule, Graeme James, Luke Stack, Charlie Hodge. Mayor: Walter Gray Councilors: Robert Hobson, Brian Given, Ron Cannan, Colin Day, Andre Blanleil, Sharon Shepherd, Smiley Nelson. Mayor: Walter Gray Councilors: Robert Hobson, Joe Leask, Ron Cannan, Colin Day, Andre Blanleil, Sharon Shepherd, Smiley Nelson, Marion Bremner. Mayor: James Stuart Councilors: Robert Hobson, Colin Day, Andre Blanleil, Joe Leask, Ben Lee, Henry Markgraf, Shirley Staley, Marion Bremner. Mayor: James Stuart Councilors: Robert Hobson, Marion Bremner. Further Councillors Unknown.

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7.00

2 votes

154

Majlis of Iran

Jurisdiction: Iran

The Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran (Persian: Majles-e Shorâ-ye Eslami, lit. Majles), also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran. The Parliament currently has 290 representatives, changed from the previous 272 seats since the 18 February 2000 election. The recent election took place on 2 March 2012 and the new parliament was opened on 27 May 2012. Before the Islamic Revolution, Majlis was also the name of the lower house of the Iranian Legislature from 1906 to 1979, the upper house being the Senate. It was created by the Iran Constitution of 1906 and first convened on 6 November 1906 (Iranian Calendar: 1285-Mehr-13), soon gaining power under the rule of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Noteworthy bills passed by the Parliament under the Pahlavi Dynasty include the Oil Nationalization Bill (15 March 1951) and the Family Protection Law (1967), which gave women many basic rights such as custody of children in the case of divorce. Women were not allowed to vote or be elected to the Parliament until 1963, as part of reforms under the Shah's "White Revolution". The reforms were regarded as dangerous, Westernizing trends by

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7.00

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155

Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago

Jurisdiction: Trinidad and Tobago
Component bodies: Senate 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 43 members elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies, and the Senate which has 31 members appointed by the President: 16 Government Senators appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, 6 Opposition Senators appointed on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition and 9 Independent Senators appointed by the President to represent other sectors of civil society.

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7.00

2 votes

156

Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan

Jurisdiction: Kyrgyzstan
Component bodies: Assembly of People's Representatives of Kyrgyzstan

The Supreme Council (Kyrgyz: Жогорку Кеңеш, transliterated as Žogorku Keňesh or Jogorku Kengesh) ([dʒoʁorqu keŋeʃ]) is the unicameral Parliament of Kyrgyzstan. It has 120 seats with members elected for a five-year term by party-list proportional voting. From 1991, when Kyrgyzstan gained independence from the Soviet Union, until October 2007, when the Constitution was changed in a referendum, the Supreme Council consisted of the Legislative Assembly (Myizam Chygaruu Jyiyny, the upper house) and the Assembly of People's Representatives (El Okuldor Jyiyny, lower house) with 60 and 45 members, respectively. The members of both houses were elected to five year terms. In the Assembly of People's Representatives all 45 members were elected in single-seat constituencies; in the Legislative Assembly 45 members were elected in single-seat constituencies and 15 were elected through party lists. Since October 2007, the Supreme Council is a unicameral legislature. Originally it consisted of 90 members, however when in 2010 President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted after riots, a new Constitution was adopted, that increased the number of members to 120. Parties are limited to 65 seats in order to

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7.00

2 votes

157

House of Commons of Southern Ireland

Jurisdiction: Southern Ireland
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Southern Ireland

The House of Commons of Southern Ireland was established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was the lower house of parliament of Southern Ireland. Southern Ireland, like Northern Ireland was formally established in May 1921 but Southern Ireland had a much shorter life, being superseded by the Irish Free State in December 1922. In 1921, elections were held for the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. In reality, no contests occurred. All 128 MPs were returned unopposed - Sinn Féin won all 124 seats for geographic constituencies, whilst Unionists won the four seats for graduates of University of Dublin. The Irish Republic chose to regard that election as elections to the Second Dáil. The 124 Sinn Féin candidates elected, plus the Sinn Féin members elected to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland elected at the same time, assembed as the Second Dáil. In June 1921, the House of Commons, together with the appointed Senate, formally assembled in the Royal College of Science for Ireland, now Government Buildings, in Merrion Street, for a state opening by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent. In reality only four unionist MPs attended. Having elected

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6.00

3 votes

158

Maine House of Representatives

Jurisdiction: Maine
Body this is a component of: Maine Legislature

The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 members (excluding two nonvoting members) representing an equal amount of districts across the state. Each voting member of the House represents around 8,450 citizens of the state. Because it is a part-time position, members of the Maine House of Representatives usually have outside employment as well. Members are limited to four consecutive terms of two years each, but may run again after two years. The House meets at the Maine State House in Augusta. The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House Resolution. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the chamber. The one hundredth and current Speaker is Republican Robert Nutting of District 78 (Oakland). The Majority Leader

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6.00

3 votes

159

National Assembly of Mali

Jurisdiction: Mali

The unicameral National Assembly of Mali is the country's legislative body. The current National Assembly, formed following elections held on 14 and 28 July 2002, has a total of 160 members. 147 members are directly elected in single or multi-member constituencies using the Two-Round (or Run-off) system. Malians living abroad are represented by 13 legislators selected in separate polling. All members serve five-year terms. (Note: Elections were annulled in 8 constituencies due to irregularities) A 2009 amendments to the Malian Family Code was met by huge demonstrations demanding it not be signed, following which President Toure sent the bill back to the parliament.

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6.00

3 votes

160

Parliament of Southern Ireland

Jurisdiction: Southern Ireland
Component bodies: Senate of Southern Ireland

The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a home rule legislature set up by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Fourth Home Rule Bill. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland, a political entity which was created by the British Government to solve the issue of rising Irish nationalism and the issue of partitionism, whilst retaining Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. The Parliament was bicameral, consisting of a House of Commons (the lower house) with 128 seats and a Senate (the upper house) with 64 seats. The Parliament as two houses sat only once, in the Royal College of Science for Ireland in Merrion Street. Due to the low turnout of members attending, the Parliament was adjourned sine die and was later officially disbanded by the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922. Under the Act of Union 1800 the separate Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were merged on 1 January 1801, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Throughout the 19th century Irish opposition to the Union was strong, occasionally erupting in violent insurrection. In the 1870s the Home Rule League under Isaac Butt sought to achieve a modest form of

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6.00

3 votes

161

Parliament of Sri Lanka

Jurisdiction: Sri Lanka

The Parliament of Sri Lanka is the 225-member unicameral legislature of Sri Lanka. The members of Parliament are elected by proportional representation for six-year terms, with universal suffrage. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. It is modeled after the British Parliament. The Speaker or, in his absence the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees or the Deputy Chairman of Committees, presides over Parliament. The nation's President has the power to summon, suspend, prorogue, or terminate a legislative session and to dissolve the Parliament. Of the 225 members, 196 are elected from 22 electoral districts, which are multi-member. The remaining 29 MPs are elected from National Lists allocated to the parties (and independent groups) in proportion to their share of the national vote. The first legislature established in Ceylon were the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, which were established on March 13, 1833 according to the recommendations of the Colebrook-Cameron commission. The Executive Council was composed of the Colonial Secretary, the officer commanding the Military Forces, the Attorney General, the Auditor-General and the Treasurer and the duties

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6.00

3 votes

162

Philippine Assembly

Jurisdiction: Philippines

The Philippine Assembly was the lower house of the legislative body of the Philippines during the early part of American colonial period. It was created by the Philippine Organic Act, passed in 1902, which also established the Philippine Commission as the upper house of the Philippine Legislature, headed by the U.S. Governor General. As a result of the Philippine Organic Act, the Philippine Commission conducted a census in 1903, which was published on March 25, 1905. Following two years of peace, on July 30, 1907, the first national elections were held. Two dominant political groups—the Partido Nacionalista and Partido Nacional Progresista—vied for positions in the Assembly, along with other, more minor parties and independents. The Nacionalista Party, the party that espoused "immediate and complete independence" headed by Sergio Osmeña, captured majority of the 80-seat Assembly. On October 16, 1907, the Philippine Assembly was inaugurated at the Manila Grand Opera House. Throughout the assembly's history, there was conflict in the legislature between the elected Assembly composed entirely of Filipinos and the appointed Commission with an American majority. This period came to an

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6.00

3 votes

163

National Council of Namibia

Jurisdiction: Namibia
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Namibia

The National Council is the upper chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. The 26 National Council members are chosen by regional councils, which are directly elected for a term of six-years. Each of the 13 regional councils chooses two of its members to serve on the National Council. The last regional council elections were held on 26 and 27 November 2010. Political party distribution in the current National Council is as follows: The council meets in Namibian capital of Windhoek in the so called Tintenpalast, the current chairperson is Asser Kuveri Kapere. Seven women occupy seats in the National Council.

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5.00

4 votes

164

Toronto City Council

Jurisdiction: Toronto

The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors. For ease of electoral division, wards are based upon the city's provincial electoral districts, with each district divided into two city wards. (The provincial boundaries were redistributed in 2007 along the lines of the new federal boundaries; as of the 2010 election, a similar adjustment which would increase the number of councillors from 44 to 45 or 46 has not been made, so the districts remain slightly uncoordinated.) The city council has 45 members: 44 ward councillors plus the mayor. The city posts agendas for council and committee meetings. The salary for the mayor was $167,769.94 for 2012. The salary for a city councillor was $102,608 for 2012. There are seven standing committees of council: There are three internal business committees: The Executive Committee is composed of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, chairs of the seven standing committees and four other members appointed by City Council. Sub-committees of the executive committee include the: In addition to the standing committees, all members of Toronto city

0 comments

5.00

4 votes

165

United States House of Representatives

Jurisdiction: United States of America
Body this is a component of: United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the United States Congress (bicameral legislature). It is frequently referred to as 'the House'. The other house is the Senate. The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the United States Constitution. The major power of the House is to pass federal legislation that affects the entire country although its bills must also be passed by the Senate and further agreed to by the U.S. President before becoming law (unless both the House and Senate re-pass the legislation with a two-thirds majority in each chamber). The House has several exclusive powers: the power to initiate revenue bills, to impeach officials, and to elect the U.S. President in case there is no majority in the Electoral College. Each U.S. state is represented in the House in proportion to its population but is entitled to at least one representative. The most populous state, California, currently has 55 representatives. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435. Each representative serves for a two-year term. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, who presides over the

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5.00

4 votes

166

Kansas Legislature

Jurisdiction: Kansas
Component bodies: Kansas Senate

The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, composed of 125 Representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 Senators. Republicans hold a long-standing supermajority in both houses. The State Legislature meets at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka. The Kansas Territory was created out of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. In several of the provisions of the act, the law allowed the settlers of the newly-created territory to determine, by vote, whether Kansas, once statehood was achieved, would be entered as either a free or a slave state. The act created a rush of both abolitionist Northern and pro-slavery Southern immigrants to the territory, hoping that strength through numbers would place Kansas in their camp. Animosities between the newly-arrived sides quickly turned into open violence and guerrilla warfare, giving name to this period known as Bleeding Kansas. During Kansas' first elections for a territorial government on March 30, 1855, nearly 5,000 Missouri men led by United States Senator David Rice Atchison and a group of prominent pro-slavery Missourians,

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5.67

3 votes

167

Oregon Legislative Assembly

Jurisdiction: Oregon
Component bodies: Oregon State Senate

The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to two-year terms. There are no term limits for either house in the Legislative Assembly. Each Senate district is composed of exactly two House districts: Senate District 1 contains House Districts 1 and 2, SD 2 contains HD 3 and HD 4, and so on. (Maps of Senate districts can be found in the Oregon State Senate article.) The legislature is termed as a "citizens' assembly" (meaning that most legislators have other jobs.) Since 1885, its regular sessions occurred in odd-numbered years, beginning on the second Monday in January. Effective 2012, the legislature moved into an annual session, with the even-numbered years having a month-long session in February. Bills may be introduced in either house, and must flow through a committee before being voted upon. Bills calling for increased revenue must be introduced in the House of Representatives. A legislative resolution referred to voters in the Nov.

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5.67

3 votes

168

Senate of the Republic of the Congo

Jurisdiction: Congo
Body this is a component of: Parliament of the Republic of the Congo

The Senate (Sénat) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of the Republic of Congo (Parlement). It has 72 members (six for each of the 12 regions), elected for a six year term by district, local and regional councils. Prior to the 2008 Senate election, it had 66 members; it was expanded to 72 members at that time to account for the creation of Pointe-Noire Region. Senators serve terms of six years each; terms are staggered so that one-third of the Senate's membership is renewed every two years. A person is ineligible for election to the Senate unless he is a native citizen and at least 50 years old.

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5.67

3 votes

169

General Council of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon

Jurisdiction: Saint-Pierre and Miquelon

The Territorial Council (Conseil territorial) is the legislative branch of the government of the French territory. It was previously known as General Council (Conseil général), but the name was changed into Territorial Council by the French law of February 22, 2007 which also increased the council's powers. The Territorial Council Building is an orange two story structure located at Church Square in Saint-Pierre. The Territorial Council has 19 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies. Elections are held in two stages. The first stage (Premier tour) is open to all candidates and the majority of seats can only be given out if a political group achieves true majority at the ballot box. If no majority is attained on this ballot, a second ballot is held the following Sunday. On the second ballot (Second tour), only a relative majority is necessary to obtain 11 out of the 19 seats. The rest of the seats (save 4 for Miquelon) are distributed through a system of proportional representation. The President of the Territorial Council has held executive power since March 2, 1982. The current President is Stéphane Artano. A list of Presidents of the Territorial Council

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6.50

2 votes

170

General People's Congress of Libya

The General People's Congress of Libya (Mu'tammar al-sha'ab al 'âmm) (Arabic: مؤتمر الشعب العام الليبي‎) was the national legislature of Muammar Gaddafi's Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya governance structure. It consisted of 2,700 representatives of the Basic People's Congresses. The GPC was the legislative forum that interacts with the General People's Committee, whose members are secretaries of Libyan ministries. It notionally served as the intermediary between the masses and the leadership and was composed of the secretariats of some 600 local "basic popular congresses." The GPC secretariat and the cabinet secretaries were appointed by the GPC secretary general and confirmed by the annual GPC congress. These cabinet secretaries were responsible for the routine operation of their ministries. The People's Hall, where the Congress met, was set on fire in the Libyan civil war.

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6.50

2 votes

171

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Jurisdiction: British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Legislature of British Columbia, the provincial parliament (the other is the Queen of Canada, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia). The Legislature meets in Victoria. Members are referred to as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The current Parliament is the 39th Parliament. The most recent general election was the British Columbia general election held on May 12, 2009. Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly are broadcast to cable viewers in the province by Hansard TV.

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6.50

2 votes

172

Los Angeles City Council

Jurisdiction: Los Angeles

The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles. The council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the council at the first regular meeting after June 30 in odd-numbered years. An assistant president pro tempore is appointed by the President. Regular council meetings are held in the City Hall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 am except on holidays or if decided by special resolution. A current annual (July to June) schedule of all Council meetings, broken down by committee, is available as a .pdf download from the Office of the City Clerk. Officers: Los Angeles was governed by a seven-member Common Council under general state law from 1850 to 1889, when a city charter was put into effect. Under the first charter of the city, granted by the Legislature in 1889, the city was divided into nine wards, with a councilman elected from each one by plurality vote, The first election under that system was held on February 21, 1889, and the last on December 4, 1906. Two-year terms for the City Council began and ended in December,

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6.50

2 votes

173

Louisiana State Legislature

Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Component bodies: Louisiana Senate

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators. Members of both houses are elected from single-member constituencies. The State Legislature meets in the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. Members of both houses of the legislature serve a four-year term, with a term limit of three terms (twelve years). Term limits were passed by state voters in a constitutional referendum in 1995 and were subsequently added as Article III, §4, of the Louisiana Constitution. The year 2007 saw legislators termed out of office for the first time. The term limits however are consecutive rather than lifetime. The officers of each house of the Legislature are elected at the beginning of each term to serve for four-year terms. The Louisiana House of Representatives elects from among its members a speaker and speaker pro tempore. Although the procedure is not mandated constitutionally, the speaker of the House is traditionally recommended by the governor of Louisiana to the body. The

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6.50

2 votes

174

Massachusetts General Court

Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Component bodies: Massachusetts Senate

The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled, The General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened by John Adams, author of the state constitution, apparently in the name of republican simplicity. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members. (Until 1978, it had 240 members) It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston, Massachusetts. The current President of the Senate is Therese Murray, and the Speaker of the House is Robert DeLeo. Democrats hold super-majorities in both chambers. State Senators and Representatives both serve two-year terms. Each Representative represents about 40,000 residents. Representative districts are named for the primary county in which

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6.50

2 votes

175

State Great Hural

Jurisdiction: Mongolia

The State Great Khural (Mongolian: Улсын Их Хурал, Ulsyn Ikh Khural, also State Great Hural; English: State Great Assembly) is the unicameral Parliament of Mongolia. It is located in the Government Palace. All 76 members represents 26 multi-member constituencies, and are elected by bloc vote for a term of four years. The election is only valid if 50% of the electorate vote. Mongolian citizens are allowed to vote from the age of 18 if they live in Mongolia. They may be elected to office at the age of 25. The government is dissolved and new elections are called if the prime minister or half of the minsters in the Cabinet resign. The Khural can also be dissolved if the President dissolves it or if two-thirds of the Khural's members vote for dissolution. The members of parliament elect a chairman from among their own numbers. The chairman executes the roles of the speaker of the legislative as well as deputy of the president, and is ranked second in the hierarchy of the state after the president. The chairperson supervises the sessions of the parliament, and is responsible for its voting procedures. He automatically (ex officio) becomes a member of the National Security Council. The

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6.50

2 votes

176

United States Department of Defense

Component bodies: United States Department of the Navy

The Department of Defense (also known as the Defense Department, USDOD, DOD, DoD or the Pentagon) is the Executive Department of the Government of the United States of America charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States armed forces. The Department is also the largest employer in the world, with more than 2.13 million active duty Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and also civilian workers, and over 1.1 million National Guardsmen and members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Reserves. The grand total is just over 3.2 million servicemen and servicewomen, plus the civilians who support them. The Department – headed by the Secretary of Defense – has three subordinate military departments: the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. In addition, there are many Defense Agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the Missile Defense Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Reconnaissance Office

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6.50

2 votes

177

Spanish Senate

Jurisdiction: Spain
Body this is a component of: Cortes Generales

The Senate of Spain (Spanish: Senado de España) is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is made up of 266 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 58 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time. The last election was held on 20 November 2011. The composition of the 10th Senate, which cannot serve beyond 2015, is: Spanish Senate was instituted by the Constitution of 1837 under the Regency of Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies. It remained under the regime of the Constitutions of 1845, 1856, 1869 and 1876. It was composed at that latter time of three main categories; Senators by their own right, Senators for life and Senators elected. This chamber was suppressed after the Coup of General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923. Only after the Transicion in 1978 was again re-instituted. Senators form groups along party lines. Parties with fewer than ten Senators form the Mixed Group. If the membership of an existing group falls below six during a session, it is merged into the Mixed Group at the next session. For example, Coalición Canaria lost its Senate caucus in

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4.75

4 votes

178

Belgian Senate

Jurisdiction: Belgium
Body this is a component of: Belgian Federal Parliament

The Senate (Dutch: Senaat (help·info), French: le Sénat, German: der Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament. It has undergone several reforms in the past, and will soon be further reduced as part of the sixth Belgian state reform agreed in 2011 and will no longer be directly elected. After the Belgian Revolution, the National Congress decided about the Belgian Constitution and the state structure. A bicameral Parliament was chosen over a unicameral one, due to fears of more democratic and progressive decisions in the Chamber of Representatives, as was seen in France. Thus the Senate served as a more conservative and elite body. To be eligible, one had to pay 1000 florins, which meant that at that time, only about 4000 persons could be elected. In the past, French was the sole language of government in Belgium. In 1913, the liberal Emmanuel De Cloedt spoke for the first time in history Dutch in the Senate, which the French-speaking pro-catholic newspaper La Libre Belgique described as séparatisme parlementaire ("parliamentary

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7.00

1 votes

179

House of Representatives of Liberia

Jurisdiction: Liberia
Body this is a component of: Legislature of Liberia

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the Senate comprises the Legislature of Liberia. The number of seats is fixed by law at 73, with each county being apportioned a number of seats based on its percentage of the national population. House members represent single-member districts within the counties drawn up by the National Elections Commission and serve six-year terms. The House meets at the Capitol Building in Monrovia. The primary purpose of the House is to pass bills in conjunction with the Senate so that they may be sent to the president for signature or veto. The House also holds the exclusive right to introduce revenue bills into the Legislature, as well as to impeach the president, the vice president and judges upon the concurrence of two-thirds of its members. The House is led by the Speaker of the House, elected at the beginning of each new legislature from among its members. Article 30 of the Constitution sets four requirements for members of the House: 1) they must possess Liberian citizenship, 2) must be at least twenty-five years old, 3) must have been domiciled in the district which they

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7.00

1 votes

180

Lorraine City Council

Jurisdiction: Lorraine

The Lorraine City Council (in French: Conseil municipal de la Ville de Lorraine) is the governing body of the mayor–council government in the city of Lorraine, Quebec, Canada. The city and its council were established on February 4, 1960 by means of Private Bill 125 of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (now National Assembly of Quebec). Since June 1962, regular sittings are held once a month at the Garth House, 100 Grande Cote, Lorraine, Quebec. The agenda for each meeting is not published in advance resulting in low citizen attendance. The bill stated that the first aldermen were to be: The first sitting of the Council occurred on May 9, 1960; John J. Seguier was named mayor by the aldermen, as the law provided. At the same time Luc Larose resigned and was immediately replaced by Edward Whittingham, manager, of Montreal West. On November 13, 1963, alderman Germain Laplante resigned and was immediately replaced by J. Albert Clément, engineer. On November 18, 1964, alderman Gerald M. Barlow resigned; on December 12, Peter McKenzie resigned. They were replaced that day by aldermen J. C. Sarault and Arthur E. Ainger, both of Lorraine. Although Bill 125

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7.00

1 votes

181

Parliament of Austria

Jurisdiction: Austria
Component bodies: National Council of Austria

In the Austrian Parliament (Österreichisches Parlament) is vested the legislative power of the Republic of Austria. The institution consists of two chambers, The National Council is composed of 183 members elected through proportional representation in a general election. This happens every five years, or earlier if the National Council prematurely moves for its own dissolution. The National Council is the dominant (albeit 'lower') house in the Austrian Parliament, and consequently the terms Parliament and National Council are commonly used synonymously. The Federal Council is elected indirectly, through the provincial diets (Landtage) of the nine States of the Federal Republic. The states are represented in the Federal Council roughly in accordance to the size of their populations. Seats are redistributed among the states following each general census, and the overall size of the chamber is slightly variable as a result of this. The current Federal Council is composed of 62 delegates. With regard to most issues, the Federal Council only possesses a dilatory right of veto which can be overridden by the National Council. However, the Federal Council enjoys absolute veto powers over

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7.00

1 votes

182

Senate of Bermuda

Jurisdiction: Bermuda
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Bermuda

The Senate is one of two parts of the Parliament of Bermuda, the other being the House of Assembly. Both are overseen by the Governor. The Senate is the Upper House of the Parliament, and serves as a House of Review. The Senate consists of eleven members appointed by the Governor. Five Senators are appointed on the advice of the Premier. Three Senators are appointed on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly. The final three Senators are appointed at the discretion of the Governor. The Senate serves as a road-block to constitutional changes, the constitution requires a 2/3 Super-Majority. Thus, in order for an amendment to pass, it needs the support of the Government and the Opposition/Appointees Of the three appointed by the Governor, the Senate elects one to serve as the President, and another to serve as the Deputy President. Bermuda's Parliament was created in 1620, and originally had one house, the House of Assembly. Political parties were not legal, and the role now performed by the Senate was originally performed by an appointed council, called the Governor's Council, or the Privy Council. This council also performed the role that today belongs to

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7.00

1 votes

183

Supreme People's Assembly

Jurisdiction: North Korea

The Supreme People's Assembly (Hangul: 최고인민회의; Hanja: 最高人民會議) is the unicameral parliament of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of 687 constituencies, elected to five-year terms. North Korea is a single-party state; all candidates for the Supreme People's Assembly are picked by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, led by Kim Jong-il until his death in December 2011. The body in turn is dominated by the Workers' Party of Korea. Although the Supreme People's Assembly is North Korea's primary legislative body, it ordinarily delegates authority to the smaller and more powerful Presidium, chosen from among its members. In 1990 the composition of the SPA was 601 seats held by the Workers' Party of Korea, 51 seats held by the Korean Social Democratic Party, 22 seats held by the Chondoist Chongu Party and 13 seats held by independents. The last convention during Kim Il-sung's reign took place in April 1994, 3 months before his death. Then during the mourning period the assembly did not meet, nor did elections take place. The next meeting convened in Septermber 1998, four years after

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7.00

1 votes

184

Parliament of Georgia

Jurisdiction: Georgia

Parliament of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს პარლამენტი, sakartvelos parlament'i) is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 77 members are proportional representatives and 73 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies. All members of the Parliament are elected for four years on the basis of universal human suffrage. The Constitution of Georgia grants Parliament of Georgia central legislative power, which is limited by the Parliaments of the autonomous republics of Adjara and Abkhazia. Slightly predating the Magna Carta in the United Kingdom, an idea of limiting the royal power and creating a parliamentary-type body of government was conceived among the aristocrats and citizens in the 12th century Kingdom of Georgia, during the reign of Queen Tamar, the first Georgian female monarch. In the view Queen Tamar's oppositionists and their leader, Qutlu Arslan (a Georgian Simon de Montfort), the first Georgian Parliament was to be formed of two "Chambers": a) Darbazi – or assembly of aristocrats and influential citizens who would meet from time to time to take decisions on

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5.33

3 votes

185

Parliament of Romania

Jurisdiction: Romania
Component bodies: Senate of Romania

The Parliament of Romania (Romanian: Parlamentul României) is made up of two chambers: The Chamber of Deputies, and The Senate. Prior 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. If the text differed, a special commission (comisie de mediere) was formed by deputies and senators, that "negotiated" between the two houses the form of the future law. The report of this commission had to be approved in a joint session of the Parliament. After the 2003 referendum, a law still has to be approved by both houses, but each house has designated matters it gets to deliberate before the other, in capacity of "deciding chamber" (Romanian: cameră decizională). If that first chamber adopts a law proposal (relating to its competences), it is passed on to the other one, which can approve or reject. If it makes amendments, the bill is sent back to the deciding chamber, the decision of which is final. In 2009, a referendum was held to consult the population about turning the parliament into a unicameral body and reducing the number of representatives to 300. Although the referendum passed, the results are

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5.33

3 votes

186

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Jurisdiction: San Francisco

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States. The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a charter city and charter county with a consolidated government, a status it has had since 1856. Since it is the only such consolidation in California, it is therefore the only California city with a mayor who is also the county executive, and a county board of supervisors that also acts as the city council. There are 11 members of the Board of Supervisors, each representing a geographic district (see below). The current president of the Board is David Chiu, who represents District 3. How the Board of Supervisors should be elected has been a bone of contention in recent San Francisco history. Throughout the United States, almost all cities and counties with populations in excess of 20,000 divide the jurisdiction into electoral districts (in cities, often called "wards") to ensure proportionate representation of the whole community and to evenly distribute the community interaction workload among the members of the governing body (city council,

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5.33

3 votes

187

Hellenic Parliament

Jurisdiction: Greece

The Hellenic Parliament (Greek: Βουλή των Ελλήνων; transliterated Vouli ton Ellinon), also the Parliament of the Hellenes, is the Parliament of Greece, located in the Parliament House (Old Royal Palace), overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece. It is a unicameral legislature of 300 members, elected for a four-year term. During 1844-1863 and 1927-1935 the parliament was bicameral with an upper house, the Senate and a lower house,the Chamber of Deputies,which retained the name Vouli. Several important Greek statesmen served as Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament. The List of Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament comprises all the Speakers from 1844 till today. Although during the Greek Revolution a number of National Assemblies had been held, the first national parliament of the independent Greek state was established only in 1843, after the September 3rd Revolution, which forced King Otto to grant a constitution. In 1911, a revision of the constitution resulted in stronger human rights, the reinforcement of the Rule of Law and the modernization of institutions, among them the parliament. After seven years of military dictatorship, on 8 December 1974, a referendum was conducted

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4.50

4 votes

188

Alaska House of Representatives

Jurisdiction: Alaska
Body this is a component of: Alaska Legislature

The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of about 15,673 people (2000 figures). Members serve two-year terms without term limits. With 40 Representatives, the Alaskan House is the smallest state legislative lower house in the United States. The House convenes at the State Capitol in Juneau. Note: Two Republicans do not caucus with the Republican majority. Four Democrats caucus with the majority. The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House Resolution. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the chamber. The current Speaker is Republican Mike Chenault of Nikiski, who represents District 34 . The Majority Leader is

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189

Assembly of Representatives of Morocco

Jurisdiction: Morocco
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Morocco

The Moroccan Parliament has two chambers. The House of Representatives (Arabic: مجلس النواب‎ Majlis al-Nuwab, French: Assemblée des Répresentants) has 325 members elected for a five year term, 295 elected in multi-seat constituencies and 30 in national lists consisting only of women. The other chamber is the House of Councillors. Source: Moroccan government.

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190

Federal government of the United States

Component bodies: United States Post Office Department

The government of the United States of America is the federal government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that constitute the United States of America, as well as one capitol district, and several other territories. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial, which powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, respectively; the powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court. The full name of the republic is "The United States of America". No other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party (e.g., Charles T. Schenck v. United States). The terms "Government of the United States of America" or "United States Government" are often used in official documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term "Federal Government" is often used, and the term

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191

Jatiyo Sangshad

Jurisdiction: Bangladesh

Jatiya Sangsad (Bengali: জাতীয় সংসদ Jatio Shôngshod) or National Assembly is the national parliament of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 345 seats, including 45 seats reserved for women that are distributed on elected party position in the parliament. Elected occupants are called Members of Parliament or MPs. The 9th National Parliamentary Election was held on December 29, 2008 and, under normal conditions, elections are called every five years. The leader of the party (or alliance of parties) holding the majority of seats is the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, and so the head of the government. The President of Bangladesh, who is the ceremonial head of state, is chosen by Parliament. The parliament itself is housed in the Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban (জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন Jatio Shôngshod Bhôbon) designed by Louis Kahn. The current majority party is the Bangladesh Awami League, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Article 66 of the Constitution makes membership open to any citizen of Bangladesh and only Bangladesh (dual citizenship is open for civilians, but not MPs) above the age of 25. Members are elected by direct polls in their respective constituencies, and

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192

Løgting

Jurisdiction: Faroe Islands

Løgting (pronounced [ˈlœktɪŋɡ] (Faroese: Føroya Løgting or just Løgtingið, Danish: Færøernes Lagting/Lagtinget, both meaning The løgting of the Faroes) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, a self-ruling dependency of Denmark. The name literally means "Law Thing" - that is, a law assembly - and derives from Old Norse lǫgþing, which was a name given to ancient assemblies. A ting or Þing has existed on the Faroe Islands for over a millennium. Along with Manx Tynwald and the Icelandic Alþing it is one of the three oldest Norse assemblies of Europe, comprising one of the oldest parliamentary systems in the world. Today, the Faroe Islands compromise one constituency, and the number of MPs is fixed at 33. The first elections with this new system was held on 19 January 2008, after the Election law was changed in late 2007. Prior to that, the membership of the Løgting varied from 27 to 32. The 7 constituencies had 27 seats, and up to 5 supplementary seats. That Election Act came into force in 1978, and the eight general elections between 1978 and 2004 all resulted in 32 members. The Løgting is elected for a period of four years. Election of the Løgting can take place before

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193

Parliament of Lebanon

Jurisdiction: Lebanon

The Parliament of Lebanon is the national parliament of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year terms in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Lebanon has universal adult suffrage. Its major functions are to elect the President of the republic, to approve the government (although appointed by the President, the Prime Minister, along with the Cabinet, must retain the confidence of a majority in the Parliament), and to approve laws and expenditure. According to its official site, the French name of the Parliament of Lebanon is Assemblée nationale (National Assembly), and the Arabic name is مجلس النواب Majlis an-Nuwwab (Chamber of Deputies). The Parliament building, was built in 1933 according to Armenian architect Mardiros Altounian's designs who was a Beaux-Arts architect. The building has an imposing symmetrical structure with an oriental revivalist style articulating historical regional references with neo-Mamluk overtones. A unique feature of the Lebanese system is the principle of "confessional distribution": each religious community has an allotted number of deputies in the Parliament. In elections

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194

Grand and General Council

Jurisdiction: San Marino

The Grand and General Council (Italian: Consiglio Grande e Generale) is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term. The electoral law was based on proportional representation from 1945 to 2007. Since then, it is based on the electoral system of Italian municipalities. A majority of at least 35 seats is given to the winning coalition of parties which receives an absolute majority of votes at the first or the eventual second round of elections. Within single coalitions, seats are divided between the parties using a D'Hondt system. A 3.5% threshold exists, together with guarantees for female candidates. The Council appoints from among its members the Congress of State, which is the executive branch of the government, and the Captains Regents, who serve as the heads of state. The Council is the equivalent of the Roman Senate during the Roman Republic. Summary of the November 9, 2008, Grand and General Council of San Marino election results.

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195

Canadian Senate

Jurisdiction: Canada

The Senate of Canada (French: Sénat du Canada) is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch (represented by the governor general). The Senate is modelled after the House of Lords and consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. Seats are assigned on a regional basis, with each of the four major regions receiving 24 seats, and the remainder of the available seats being assigned to smaller regions. The four major regions are Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and the Western provinces. The seats for Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut are assigned apart from these regional divisions. Senators may serve until they reach the age of 75. The Senate is the upper house of Parliament, and the House of Commons is the lower house. This does not, however, imply that the Senate is more powerful than the House of Commons, merely that its members and officers outrank the members and officers of the House of Commons in the order of precedence for the purposes of protocol. Indeed, as a matter of practice and custom, the Commons is by far the dominant chamber.

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196

Duma

The Duma were council assemblies which was created by the Tsar of Russia. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the last Tsar, Nicholas II. It is also the term for a council to early Russian rulers (Boyar Duma), as well as for city councils in Imperial Russia ('Municipal dumas'), and city and regional legislative bodies in the Russian Federation. The term comes from the Russian word думать (dumat’) meaning "to think" or "to consider". The Boyar Duma was an advisory council to the grand princes and czar of Russia. The Duma was discontinued by Peter the Great, who transferred its functions to the Governing Senate in 1721. Since the year 1 the municipalities in European, Russia have had institutions like those of the zemstvos. All owners of houses, tax-paying merchants and workmen are enrolled on lists in a descending order according to their assessed wealth. The total valuation is then divided into three equal parts, representing three groups of electors very unequal in number, each of which elects an equal number of delegates to the municipal duma. The executive is in the hands of an elective mayor and an uprava, which consists

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197

Federal Assembly of Switzerland

Jurisdiction: Switzerland
Component bodies: National Council of Switzerland

The Federal Assembly (German: Bundesversammlung, French: Assemblée fédérale, Italian: Assemblea federale, Romansh: Assamblea federala), is Switzerland's federal parliament. It meets in Bern in the Federal Palace. The Federal Assembly is bicameral, being composed of the 200-seat National Council and the 46-seat Council of States. The houses have identical powers. Members of both houses represent the cantons, but, whereas seats in the National Council are distributed in proportion to population, each canton has two seats in the Council of States, except the six 'half-cantons' which have one seat each. Both are elected in full once every four years, with the last election being held in 2011. The Federal Assembly possesses the federal government's legislative power, along with the separate constitutional right of citizen's initiative. For a law to pass, it must be passed by both houses. The Federal Assembly may come together as a United Federal Assembly in certain circumstances, including to elect the Federal Council, the Federal Chancellor, a General (Swiss generals are only selected in times of great national danger), or federal judges. The Federal Assembly is made up of two

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198

House of Representatives of Japan

Jurisdiction: Japan
Body this is a component of: Diet of Japan

The House of Representatives (衆議院, Shūgiin) is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors is the upper house. The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation, and 300 are elected from single-member constituencies. 241 seats are required for majority. The overall voting system used to elect the House of Representatives is a parallel system, not a form of proportional representation. Under a parallel system the allocation of list seats does not take into account the outcome in the single seat constituencies. Therefore the overall allocation of seats in the House of Representatives is not proportional, to the advantage of larger parties. In contrast, in bodies such as the German Bundestag the election of single-seat members and party list members is linked, so that the overall result respects proportional representation. The House of Representatives is the more powerful of the two houses, able to override vetoes on bills imposed by the House of Councillors with a two-thirds majority. It can be dissolved by

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199

Irish House of Commons

Body this is a component of: Parliament of Ireland

The Irish House of Commons (Irish: Teach na nGnáthduine) was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive franchise: in counties forty shilling freeholders were enfranchised whilst in most boroughs it was either only the members of self electing corporations or a highly restricted body of freemen that were able to vote for the borough's representatives. Most notably, Roman Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament from 1691, even though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population. From 1728 until 1793 they were also disfranchised. Most of the population of all religions had no vote. The British-appointed Irish executive, under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was not answerable to the House of Commons but to the British government. However, the Chief Secretary for Ireland was usually a member of the Irish parliament. In the Commons, business was presided over by the Speaker who, in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, was the dominant political figure

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200

Michigan State House of Representatives

Jurisdiction: Michigan
Body this is a component of: Michigan Legislature

The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2000 federal U.S. Census. Members are elected in even-numbered years, and take office on the January 1 following the November general election. Each member is limited to serving three, two-year terms. Members of the House of Representative are commonly referred to as representatives. Because this shadows the terminology used to describe members of Congress, constituents and news media, using the Associated Press guidelines for journalist, often refer to members as state representatives to avoid confusion with their federal counterparts. Technically, members are not representatives and should be referred to as a member of the Legislature (abbreviated to ML) or a member of the House of Representatives (abbreviated to MHR). This is the same with members of the United States House of Representatives, who increasingly use member of Congress (abbreviated to MC) as a post-nominal title. As elected officials, members of the House of Representatives also

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201

Parliament of France

Jurisdiction: France
Component bodies: French Senate

The French Parliament (French: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate (Sénat) and the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at a separate location in Paris: the Palais du Luxembourg for the Senate and the Palais Bourbon for the National Assembly. Each house has its own regulations and rules of procedure. However, they may occasionally meet as a single house, the French Congress (Congrès du Parlement français), convened at the Château de Versailles, to revise and amend the Constitution of France. Parliament meets for one nine-month session each year: under special circumstances the President can call an additional session. Although parliamentary powers have diminished from those existing under the Fourth Republic, the National Assembly can still cause a government to fall if an absolute majority of the total Assembly membership votes a censorship motion. As a result, the "gouvernement" (the term is similar to "cabinet" in the UK or "administration" in the USA, and consists of the Prime Minister and ministers) may be from the same political party as the Assembly and should be

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202

Tynwald

Jurisdiction: Isle of Man
Component bodies: Legislative Council of the Isle of Man

The Tynwald (Manx: Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald (Manx: Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It is claimed to be the oldest continuous parliamentary body in the world, consisting of the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council. The Houses sit jointly, on Tynwald Day at St John's for largely ceremonial purposes, and usually once a month in the Legislative Buildings in Douglas. Otherwise, the two Houses sit separately, with the House of Keys originating most legislation, and the Legislative Council acting as a revising chamber. The name Tynwald, like the Icelandic Þingvellir, is derived from the Old Norse word Þingvǫllr meaning the meeting place of the assembly, the field of the thing. When Tynwald meets annually (normally on 5 July) at an open air ceremony at Tynwald Hill at St John's, the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man presides, unless HM The Queen as Lord of Mann, or a member of the Royal Family representing Her Majesty, is present. Here, all laws are promulgated and special petitions are received. If an Act of Tynwald is not promulgated at St John's within 18 months of passage, it becomes

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203

Massachusetts House of Representatives

Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Body this is a component of: Massachusetts General Court

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 12 counties each divided into single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. The House of Representatives convenes at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Historically, representatives were apportioned by town. For the first 150 persons, one representative was granted, and this ratio increased as the population of the town increased. The largest membership of the House was 749 in 1812 (214 of these being from the District of Maine); the largest House without Maine was 635 in 1837. The original distribution was changed to the current regional population system in the 20th century. Until 1978, there were 240 members of the house, a number in multi-member districts; today there are 160 in single-member districts. Today, each Representative represents about 40,000 residents. Their districts are named for the counties they are in and tend to stay within one county, although districts occasionally cross county lines. Representative serve two year terms which are not

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204

Parliament of Malaysia

Jurisdiction: Malaysia
Component bodies: Dewan Rakyat

The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament. The Parliament assembles in the Malaysian Houses of Parliament, located in the national capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The current meeting of Parliament, the 12th, first convened in the Houses of Parliament on April 28, 2008. Historically, none of the states forming the Federation of Malaysia had parliaments before independence save for Sarawak which have its own Council Negri which enabled local participation and representation in administrative work since 1863. Although the British colonial government had permitted the forming of legislative councils for Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, these were not the supreme makers of law, and remained subordinate to the British High Commissioner or the Rajah, in case of Sarawak. The Reid Commission, which drafted the Constitution of Malaya — Malaya gained independence in 1957, ahead of the other states that would later form Malaysia — modelled the Malayan system of government after that of

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205

House of Burgesses

Jurisdiction: Colony and Dominion of Virginia

The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America and to make conditions in the colony more agreeable for its current inhabitants. Its first meeting was held in Jamestown, Virginia, on July 30, 1619. The word "Burgess" means an elected or appointed official of a municipality, or the representative of a borough in the English House of Commons. In the 1610s, the Virginia Company of London ended monopoly on land ownership. Nathanael Nelson believed that the colonists would display greater initiative if they could gain ownership of land. The institution of the headright system gave 50 acres to each adventurer accompanying a colonist to Virginia. The changes encouraged private investment from the colony's settlers, which allowed them to own land rather than simply being sharecroppers. Among other changes in the reorganization of the Virginia Company to make it a profitable company, officials decided to set up a system of self-government in the North American colonies. Company

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206

Legislature of the Virgin Islands

Jurisdiction: United States Virgin Islands

The Legislature of the Virgin Islands is the territorial legislature of the United States Virgin Islands. The legislative branch of the unincorporated U.S. territory is unicameral, with a single house consisting of 15 senators, elected to two-year terms without term limits. The territorial legislature meets in the capital of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas. The roots of the modern legislature date to the passage of the Colonial Law in 1852 during the Danish colonial period. The law created a Colonial Assembly for the Danish West Indies, as well as the appointment of a Vice-regent serving as the colony’s governor executive, serving on behalf of the King of Denmark. Despite the name, the Colonial Assembly acted more as an advisory body than a true legislature. Vice-regents continued to reserve the right to reject or amend any law they did not see fit. A further Colonial Law coming in 1863 broke the Assembly into two parts, creating a Colonial Council for the newly-created St. Thomas and St. John Municipality, and a separate Colonial Council for the St. Croix Municipality. The 1863 law provided the councils to combine into a single legislature when called upon by the

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207

Nigerian National Assembly

Jurisdiction: Nigeria
Component bodies: Senate of Nigeria

The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature established under section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution. It consists of a Senate and a 360-member House of Representatives. The body, modelled after the federal Congress of the United States, is supposed to guarantee equal representation of the states irrespective of size in the Senate and proportional representation of population in the House. The National Assembly, like many other organs of the Nigerian government, is based in the federal capital Abuja. The Senate is chaired by the President of the Nigerian Senate, the first of whom was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who stepped down from the job to become the country's first Head of State. The House is chaired by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. At any joint session of the Assembly, the President of the Senate presides and in his absence the Speaker of the House presides. The Assembly has broad oversight functions and is empowered to establish committees of its members to scrutinise bills and the conduct of government officials. Since the restoration of democratic rule in 1999, the Assembly has been said to be a "learning process" that has

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208

Parliament of Canada

Jurisdiction: Canada

The Parliament of Canada (French: Parlement du 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 organization. The governor general summons and appoints each of the 105 members of the upper house on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada, while the 308 members of the lower house are directly elected by eligible voters in the Canadian populace, with each Member of Parliament representing a single electoral district, commonly referred to as a riding. By constitutional convention, the House of Commons is the dominant branch of parliament, the Senate and Crown rarely opposing its will. The Senate thus reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint, and the monarch and viceroy provide the necessary Royal Assent to make bills into law and summon, prorogue, and dissolve parliament in order to call an election, as well as reading the Throne Speech. The current parliament, summoned by Governor General David Johnston on 2 June 2011, is the 41st since

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209

Parliament of Ghana

Jurisdiction: Ghana

The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Ghanaian government. Legislative representation in Ghana dates back to 1850, when the country (then known as Gold Coast) was a British colony. The body, called the Legislative Council, was purely advisory as the Governor exercised all legislative and executive powers. Reforms were introduced in 1916 and 1925, although the governor's power remained extensive. In 1946, a new constitution was introduced that allowed for an unofficial member of the Legislative Council to become its president while the governor ceased to be the ex-officio president of the body. This system continued until 1951 when the Legislature elected its first Speaker - Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist. 1951 was also the first year that elections based on universal suffrage were held. The Convention People's Party (CPP), which was formed in 1949 and led by Kwame Nkrumah, won the election. Another party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) led by J.B. Danquah, fared poorly, and was disbanded soon after. Nkrumah, who had been jailed in early 1950 for subversion, was released and appointed Leader of Government Business, becoming the country's first Prime Minister

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210

Parliament of the Czech Republic

Jurisdiction: Czech Republic
Component bodies: Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

The Parliament of the Czech Republic (Czech: Parlament České republiky) is the legislative body of the Czech Republic, based in Prague. It consists of two chambers, both elected in direct elections: The Parliament exercises competences usual in parliamentary systems: it holds and passes bills, has the right to modify the Constitution, ratifies international agreements; if necessary, it declares war, approves presence of foreign military forces in the Czech Republic or a dispatch of Czech military forces abroad. Both chambers also elect the President at a joint session. The tradition of modern parliamentarianism in the Bohemian lands dates back to times of the Habsburg Empire (Austria, then Cisleithanian part of Austria-Hungary), where the Imperial Council (Reichsrat, Říšská rada) was created in 1861. After proclamation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 its National Assembly undertook legislative duties both of the Imperial Council and State Diets (Bohemian, Moravian, Silesian). In 1938-1939 and between 1945 and 1990 there existed a parliament within non-democratic regimes. As a consequence of federalization of Czechoslovakia (1968), national councils of Czech and Slovak parts of the

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211

French National Assembly

Jurisdiction: France
Body this is a component of: Parliament of France

The National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale; pronounced: [a.sɑ̃.ble.na.sjɔ'nal]) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ("Sénat"). The National Assembly's members are known as députés (French pronunciation: [de.py'te] ; "delegate" or "envoy" in English; the word is an etymological cognate of the English word "deputy", usually "adjoint" in French). There are 577 députés, each elected by a single-member constituency through a two-rounds system. 289 seats are therefore required for a majority. The assembly is presided over by a president (currently Claude Bartolone), normally from the largest party represented, assisted by vice-presidents from across the represented political spectrum. The term of the National Assembly is five years; however, the President of the Republic may dissolve the Assembly (thereby calling for new elections) unless he has dissolved it in the preceding twelve months. This measure is becoming rarer since the 2000 referendum reduced the President's term from seven to five years: a President usually has a majority elected in the Assembly two months after him, and it would be useless

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212

Legislative Assembly of Alberta

Jurisdiction: Alberta

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly consists of 87 members, elected first past the post from single-member electoral districts. The maximum period between general elections of the assembly, as set by the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is five years, but the premier controls the date of election and usually selects a date in the fourth or fifth year after the preceding election. Since 2011, Alberta has had fixed election date legislation, fixing the election to a date between March 1 and May 31 in the fourth calendar year following the preceding election. Alberta has never had a minority government, so an election as a result of a vote of no confidence has never occurred. To be a candidate for election to the assembly, a person must be a Canadian citizen older than 18 who has lived in Alberta for at least six months before the election. Senators, senators in waiting, members of the House of Commons, and criminal

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213

National Assembly of Panama

Jurisdiction: Panama

The National Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional), formerly the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa), is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Panama. It is a unicameral legislature, currently made up of 71 members, who serve five-year terms. Legislators from outlying rural districts are chosen on a plurality basis, while districts located in more populous towns and cities elect multiple legislators by means of a proportion-based formula. Panama's legislative elections are held simultaneous with its presidential elections. Panama also returns a delegation of 20 deputies to the supranational Central American Parliament.

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214

Parliament of New Zealand

Jurisdiction: New Zealand
Component bodies: New Zealand House of Representatives

The New Zealand Parliament (in Māori: Pāremata Aotearoa) 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". Until 1986, the formal name for the Parliament of New Zealand was the General Assembly of New Zealand. The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 Members of Parliament (MPs), sometimes more due to overhang seats. MPs are directly elected by universal suffrage. The form of New Zealand government essentially follows the Westminster system, and the government is led by the Prime Minister and cabinet who are chosen from amongst the members of the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives meets in the Parliament Buildings located in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand since 1865. The parliament was established by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 which established a bicameral legislature officially called the General Assembly, but usually referred to as Parliament. This produced a parliament very similar to Britain's, with a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper

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215

Parliament of South Africa

Jurisdiction: South Africa
Component bodies: National Assembly of South Africa

The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. It has undergone many transformations as a result of the country's tumultuous history. From 1910 to 1994, it was elected mainly by South Africa's white minority, before the first elections with universal suffrage were held in 1994. The predecessor of the Parliament of South Africa, before the 1910 Union of South Africa, was the bicameral Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope. This was composed of the House of Assembly (the lower house) and the Legislative Council (the upper house). It dated back to the beginnings of Cape independence in 1853, and was elected according to the multi-racial Cape Qualified Franchise system, whereby suffrage qualifications were applied equally to all males, regardless of race. The buildings of the Cape Parliament went on to house the Parliament of South Africa, after union. When the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, the Parliament was bicameral and consisted of the King, the Senate, and the House of Assembly (known in Afrikaans as the Volksraad). The composition

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216

New Zealand House of Representatives

Jurisdiction: New Zealand
Body this is a component of: Parliament of New Zealand

The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand form the Parliament of New Zealand. The House of Representatives is a democratically elected body, usually consisting of 120 members (currently 121 due to an overhang) known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected for limited terms, holding office until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of three years). New Zealand essentially follows the Westminster system of government, and is governed by a cabinet and Prime Minister commanding a majority in the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives was established by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 which established a bicameral legislature, but the upper house, the Legislative Council, was abolished in 1951 so Parliament is now unicameral. Parliament received full control over all New Zealand affairs in 1947 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act. The official title of the New Zealand House of Representatives was originally the General Assembly until 1986 when it became the New Zealand House of Representatives, which it had been called in practice since

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217

Arkansas General Assembly

Jurisdiction: Arkansas
Component bodies: Arkansas Senate

The Arkansas General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 100 members. All 135 representatives and state senators represent an equal amount of constituent districts. The General Assembly convenes on the second Monday of every other year. A session lasts for 60 days unless the legislature votes to extend it. The Governor of Arkansas can issue a "call" for a special session during the interims between regular sessions. The General Assembly meets at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock. Amendment 73 of the Arkansas Constitution, approved by voters in the 1992 state general elections, sets term limits for Representatives and Senators. Representatives are limited to three two-year terms (six years); Senators are limited to two four-year terms (eight years). (Amendment 73 also set term limits for U.S. Senators and Representatives. That part of the Amendment was found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton. Section 4 of the Amendment included a severability

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218

Congress of Peru

Jurisdiction: Peru

The Congress of the Republic of Peru (Spanish: Congreso de la República) or the National Congress of Peru (Spanish: Congreso Nacional del Perú) is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Congress consists of 130 members of congress (congresistas), who are elected for five year periods in office on a proportional representation basis. To be eligible, candidates must be Peruvian citizens, have passed their 25th birthday, and not have had their right to vote suspended. The last congressional election was held on April 10, 2011, concurrently with the presidential election. Since July 26, 2012, the President of Congress is Víctor Isla, of the Peru Wins political party Currently the Peruvian congress congregates at the Palacio Legislativo, which is located in the Historical Center of Lima, across the road from Plaza Simón Bolívar and a few blocks away from Casa de Pizarro. The first Peruvian Congress was installed in 1822 as the Constitutional Congress lead by Francisco Xavier de Luna Pizarro. In 1829, the government installed a bicameral Congress, made up by a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. This parliamentary system was interrupted by a number of times with

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219

Diet of Japan

Jurisdiction: Japan
Component bodies: House of Representatives of Japan

The National Diet (国会, Kokkai) is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for selecting the Prime Minister. The Diet was first convened as the Imperial Diet in 1889 as a result of adopting the Meiji constitution. The Diet took its current form in 1947 upon the adoption of the postwar constitution and is considered by the Constitution to be the highest organ of state power. The National Diet Building is located in Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The houses of the diet are elected under a parallel voting system. This means that the seats to be filled in any given election are divided into two groups, each elected by a different method; the main difference between the houses is in the sizes of the two groups and how they are elected. Voters are also asked to cast two votes: one for an individual candidate in a constituency, and one for a party list. Any national of Japan at least twenty years of age (the age of majority in Japan) may vote in

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220

Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

Jurisdiction: Puerto Rico
Component bodies: Senate of Puerto Rico

The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Asamblea Legislativa de Puerto Rico) is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The structure and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico. The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper house Senate of Puerto Rico (Senado de Puerto Rico), with 31 senators, and the lower House of Representatives of Puerto Rico (Camara de Representantes), with 53 representatives. 11 members of each house are elected at-large, and not from any specific legislative district. All members of the Legislative Assembly are elected for a four-year term without term limits. The constitution vests all legislative power to the Legislative Assembly. As all laws must be passed by both houses in order to reach the governor's desk, each has its unique powers. Also the constitution states in the Article III, Section 9 that "...each house shall be the unique judge on the legal capacity of its members...". The Constitution also grants all elected members of the Legislative Assembly with parliamentary immunity. The Legislative Assembly

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221

Lok Sabha

Jurisdiction: India
Body this is a component of: Parliament of India

The Lok Sabha (Hindi: लोक सभा) or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult franchise. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India. The Constitution limits the Lok Sabha to a maximum of 552 members, including no more than 20 members representing people from the Union Territories, and two appointed non-partisan members to represent the Anglo-Indian community (if the President feels that the community is not adequately represented). Each Lok Sabha is formed for a five-year term, after which it is automatically dissolved, unless extended by a proclamation of emergency. In such cases, the term may be extended by one-year increments. The 15th Lok Sabha was formed in May 2009. An exercise to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies' boundaries has been carried out by the Delimitation Commission based on the Indian census of 2001. This exercise, which was supposed to be carried out after every census, was suspended in 1976 following a constitutional amendment to avoid adverse effects of the family planning program which was being implemented. Today, the Lok Sabha

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222

National Parliament of East Timor

Jurisdiction: Timor-Leste

The National Parliament (Tetum: Parlamentu Nasionál, Portuguese: Parlamento Nacional) is the unicameral national legislature in East Timor. It was created in 2001 as the Constituent Assembly while the country was still under the supervision of the United Nations, but renamed itself to the National Parliament with the attaining of national independence on May 20, 2002. The number of members of the parliament may range between 52 and 65; it started with 88 members, due to the Constituent Assembly's decision to reform as the National Parliament rather than holding new elections. All members serve five-year terms. Members are elected by a party-list system. The parliament sits in the National Parliament Building in the capital, Dili, which was specially refurbished with AUD 1.8 million of Australian aid assistance in the leadup to independence. As with many other nations, the party most able to gain a working majority in the parliament forms a government. The members of parliament subsequently elect the head of government, the Prime Minister, who is currently Xanana Gusmão. Legislation in some areas may be vetoed by the directly elected head of state, the President, though this is

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223

Norfolk Legislative Assembly

Jurisdiction: Norfolk Island

The Norfolk Legislative Assembly is the prime legislative body of Norfolk Island. Formed after the Norfolk Island Act 1979 was passed in the Australian parliament, its first members were elected on the tenth of August 1979 . The current assembly is the 13th, and was elected on 17 March 2010 . The assembly has 9 members, elected for a three year term. The assembly is elected by a popular vote for a term of not more than three years. Electors each have nine equal votes, which can be divided in any way between candidates, except that no more than two votes may be given to any particular individual candidate. Some call this variation of cumulative voting the "weighted first past the post system". All nine seats are held by independents, as Norfolk Island does not have political parties. On 24 March 2010 the responsible Australian Minister, the Minister for Home Affairs congratulated the new assembly on its election, naming its members and office holders:

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224

St. Catharines City Council

Jurisdiction: St. Catharines

The St. Catharines City Council is the governing body of the City of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the mayor plus twelve elected councilors, with two councilors representing each of the six municipal wards. A deputy mayor is selected from among the city councillors to fill in for the mayor as needed when he/she is unavailable. Mayor Merriton Ward St. Andrew's Ward St. George's Ward St. Patrick's Ward Grantham Ward Port Dalhousie Ward Niagara Regional Council

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225

Parliament of Croatia

Jurisdiction: Croatia

The Parliament of Croatia (Croatian: Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia; it is Croatia's legislature. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Seats are allocated according to the Croatian Parliament electoral districts: 140 members of the parliament are elected in multi-seat constituencies, 8 from the minorities and 3 from the Croatian diaspora. The Sabor is presided over by a Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker (usually four or five deputies). The Speaker's office is currently held by Josip Leko; the 7th assembly of the Parliament of Croatia is composed of 146 MPs from 13 political parties, most of them affiliated with the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (60) and the Croatian Democratic Union (44), in addition to 6 independent MPs. The Sabor's powers are defined by the Constitution of Croatia. They include defining economic, legal and political relations in Croatia,

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226

General Council of the Valleys

Jurisdiction: Andorra

The General Council (Catalan: Consell General d'Andorra, IPA: [kunˈsɛʎ ʒənəˈɾaɫ dənˈdorə], locally: [konˈseʎ ʒeneˈɾaɫ danˈdɔra]) is the unicameral parliament of Andorra. It is sometimes referred to as the General Council of the Valleys (Catalan: Consell General de les Valls) because it was the historical name and to distinguish it from similarly named bodies in the Val d'Aran and in France. There are twenty-eight "general councillors", who are elected for four-year terms based on party lists in a closed list system: The parish lists and the national list are independent of one another: the same person cannot appear on both the national list and on a parish list, and voters cast two separate ballots (there is no requirement to vote for the same party for both lists). This is a recent development; originally, the seven parishes had each returned four deputies. However, as parishes varied in population from 350 to 2,500, this was felt to be significantly imbalanced, and the national list system was introduced for the 1997 elections to counter the disproportionate power held by the smallest parishes. The Council appoints a presiding officer, titled the Síndic general, and a deputy, the

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227

Hull City Council

Jurisdiction: Kingston upon Hull

(Kingston upon) Hull City Council is the governing body for the unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull. It was created in 1972 as the successor to the Corporation of (Kingston upon) Hull, which was also known as Hull Corporation. Since 2002 Hull City Council consists of 59 councillors which are elected from 23 wards, each ward returning either two or three councillors. The council has several subcomponents with differing responsibilities: In the 2011 election Labour regained control of the council following the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote. In the 2012 election Labour increased the number of seats they held. Prior to this Hull City Council had been led by a Liberal Democrat administration since the 2006 election. Originally as a minority administration, the Liberal Democrats first gained overall control of the council after the 2007 election. The council had been led by Labour since the early 1970s until 2002. They again led the council as a minority administration between 2003 and 2006.

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228

Majlis-e-Shoora

Jurisdiction: Pakistan
Component bodies: National Assembly of Pakistan

The Parliament of Pakistan, officially termed the Majlis-e-Shoora (Urdu: مجلس شوریٰ); is the federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature that consists of the Senate and the National Assembly, the upper and lower houses, respectively. According to the constitution, the President of Pakistan is also a component of the Parliament. The Parliament meets at the Parliament House building in Islamabad, where debating chambers for both houses are present. The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the parliament. The National Assembly has 342 seats, 272 of which are directly elected, 60 are reserved for women and a further 10 for religious minorities. The Senate of Pakistan is the upper house of parliament, with a constitutionally mandated strength of 104 members, of which 17 are reserved for women and 4 for religious minorities. According to the Constitution, the President cannot dissolve the Senate. Members of the Senate are elected by the Provincial Assemblies and serve for a period of six years. The Constitution, which is written in English, uses the spelling Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament). Majlis-i-Shoora, Majlis-e-Shura, and

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229

National Assembly of Djibouti

Jurisdiction: Djibouti

The National Assembly (formerly the Chamber of Deputies) is the unicameral legislative branch of the government of Djibouti. It consists of 65 members – 30 Somali (21 Issa) and 30 Afar – elected to serve five-year terms in multi-seat (4 to 37 each) constituencies. The first free multi-party parliamentary election since independence (1977) was held in 2003, with the ruling coalition, led by the People's Rally for Progress (RPP), receiving 62.7% of the vote. Idriss Arnaoud Ali is the current (2008) National Assembly President.

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230

Parliament of Jamaica

Jurisdiction: Jamaica
Component bodies: Jamaican Senate

The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It is a bicameral body, composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Representatives. The Senate (upper house) – the direct successor of a pre-Independence body known as the "Legislative Council" – comprises 21 senators appointed by the governor-general: thirteen on the advice of the Prime Minister and eight on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition. The House of Representatives, the lower house, is made up of 63 (previously 60) Members of Parliament, elected to five-year terms on a first-past-the-post basis in single-seat constituencies. The Parliament meets in Gordon House at 81 Duke Street, Kingston. It was built in 1960 and named in memory of Jamaican patriot George William Gordon. The House of Representatives is the group of elected members of parliament. This is the senate list of senators: Opposition

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231

Parliament of the Bahamas

Jurisdiction: Bahamas
Component bodies: Senate of the Bahamas

The Parliament of The Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up by the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assembly. It currently sits at Nassau, the national capital. The structure, functions, and procedures of the parliament are based on the Westminster system. The first meeting of a legislative body for the Bahamas took place on 29 September 1729, when twenty-four members representing the islands of New Providence, Eleuthera, and Harbour Island gathered together as the General Assembly. The Parliament as presently constituted was established by Chapter 5 of the Constitution of The Bahamas, which came into effect upon the country's independence from British rule. The House of Assembly is the lower chamber. It consists of 38 members (known as Members of Parliament), elected from individual constituencies for five-year terms. As under the Westminster system, the government may dissolve the parliament and call elections at any time. The House of Assembly performs all major legislative functions. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party controlling the

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232

American Samoa Fono

Jurisdiction: American Samoa
Component bodies: American Samoa Senate

The Legislature of American Samoa or Fono is the territorial legislature of American Samoa. Like most state and territorial legislatures of the United States, it is a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives and a Senate. The legislature is located in Fagatogo along Pago Pago harbor. It is the only legislature on the state or territorial level in the United States that is both bicameral and nonpartisan. The Nebraska Legislature is similarly nonpartisan yet is a unicameral body. As of March 2006, the American Samoa Fono remains the only state or territorial legislative body that does not have an official website. The lower House of Representatives has 21 members, elected for a two year term. It comprises 20 single-seat constituencies and one constituency decided upon by a public meeting on Swains Island. The Senate has 18 members, elected for a four year term by and from the chiefs of the islands. During Governor Vernon Huber's the term in office, which lasted from 1947 until 1949, American Samoans moved towards greater self-government. Under Huber's encouragement, the legislature of the territory, known as the American Samoa Fono, convened for the first time. The

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233

Assembly of Turkmenistan

Jurisdiction: Turkmenistan

The Assembly (Mejlis) is the legislative branch of Turkmenistan. It has 125 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. Originally, it shared power with the People's Council. A 2003 law reduced the power of the Assembly and augmented that of the People's Council. The Assembly can now be legally dissolved by the People's Council, is led by the President, and is no longer able to amend the Constitution. The People's Council was abolished by a new constitution drafted by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow in 2008, making the Assembly/Mejlis the unicameral (but apparently still "rubberstamp") parliament again. The current chairperson is Akja Nuberdiyeva from December 21, 2006. She succeeded Owezgeldi Atayew.

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234

Australian House of Representatives

Jurisdiction: Australia
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Australia

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament (MPs) serve for terms of approximately three years. The present Parliament, as elected at the 2010 election, is the 43rd Federal Parliament since Federation. It is the first hung parliament in the House of Representatives since the 1940 election, with Labor and the Coalition winning 72 seats each of 150 total. Six crossbenchers hold the balance of power: Greens MP Adam Bandt and independent MPs Andrew Wilkie, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor declared their support for Labor on confidence and supply, independent MP Bob Katter and National Party of Western Australia MP Tony Crook declared their support for the Coalition on confidence and supply. The resulting 76–74 margin entitled Labor to form a minority government. The Labor government increased their parliamentary majority on 24 November 2011 from 75–74 to 76–73 when the Coalition's Peter Slipper became Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, replacing Labor's Harry Jenkins. In the Senate, where no party tends to have a majority of seats, the Greens

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235

Basque Parliament

Jurisdiction: Basque Country

The Basque Parliament (Basque: Eusko Legebiltzarra, Spanish: Parlamento Vasco) is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament meets in the Basque capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, although the first session of the modern assembly, as constituted by the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, was held in Guernica – the symbolic centre of Basque freedoms – on 31 March 1980. Later in 1980 it started meeting at the premises of the Alavese government. In 1982, it got its own site in a former high school. The symbol of the Parliament is an oaken sculpture by Nestor Basterretxea representing a stylized tree, an allusion to the tradition of Basque political assemblies meeting under a tree, as in Guernica. It is composed of seventy-five deputies representing citizens from the three provinces of the Basque autonomous community. Each province – Álava, Gipuzkoa and Biscay – elects the same number of deputies, despite their having very different levels of population. This was chosen to earn support from Álava and Navarre, less populated territories where Basque nationalism has less followers.

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236

General Assembly of Uruguay

Jurisdiction: Uruguay
Component bodies: Senate of Uruguay

The General Assembly of Uruguay (Asamblea General) has two chambers.

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237

House of Assembly of Bermuda

Jurisdiction: Bermuda
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Bermuda

The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. The house has 36 Members of Parliament (MP), each elected for a five year term in a single seat constituency. The House of Assembly was originally the only house of Bermuda's parliament, and held its first session in 1620. It first met in Saint Peter's Church, in the original colonial capital, Saint George's, until its own building, the State House, was completed, also in 1620. It met in the State House until the capital was moved to Hamilton in 1815, where it met at the old town hall until relocating to its current home, the Sessions House, in 1826. The House of Assembly was created at a time when Bermuda, or The Somers Isles, was administered by the Somers Isles Company (1615-1684), an offshoot of the Virginia Company. The House of Burgesses had been created in Virginia in 1619. It was overseen by a Governor appointed by the Company (from 1684, by the Crown), although, for much of the colony's history, the real political power lay with the appointed Privy council, or Governor's Council, composed of members of Bermuda's wealthy merchant class. During periods when the colony

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238

House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Jurisdiction: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

The House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a unicameral legislature that serves as the legislative body for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The House has a total of 21 members. 15 represent single member constituencies and are elected using plurality voting, also known as "first past the post". The remaining six are known as Senators, and are appointed by the Governor-General. Four senators are appointed to represent the government and two to represent the opposition. The most recent elections to the House of Assembly were held on 13 December 2010. The incumbent Unity Labour Party (ULP) was returned to office winning eight out of 15 seats. The New Democratic Party (NDP) won the remaining seven seats.

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239

House of Representatives of Somaliland

Jurisdiction: Somaliland
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Somaliland

The House of Representatives (Somali: Golaha Wakiilada) is the lower house of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia. The current House of Representatives was formed following parliamentary elections held on 29 September 2005. It has a total of 82 members. The latter include the Speaker of the House, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi. MPs are elected in six multi-member constituencies, using the party-list proportional representation system for a five year term.

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240

Landtag of Saxony

Jurisdiction: Saxony

The Landtag of Saxony, also referred to as the Parliament of Saxony or the Saxon Parliament, is the German state of Saxony's legislature. It is based on the Constitution of the Free State of Saxony, drafted in 1992. Some form of a Landtag has existed in the state of Saxony or its predecessors since the 15th century, and a modern-style bicameral constitutionally-based legislature was introduced in 1831. In the wake of the tumultuous 1848 revolutions, Saxony's Landtag extended voting rights (though still maintaining property requirements) and abolished voting-taxes. As the years went on, Saxony was incorporated into the German Empire and more voting rights were gradually extended. By the early 1900s, Saxony's local politics had settled into a niche in which Social-Democrats (predecessors to today's SPD), Conservatives (predecessors to today's CDU), and so-called National-Liberals (who have no ideological descendants today; perhaps a fusion of FDP free-marketism and the NPD's voelkisch ideals) were splitting the share of votes and Landtag seats three ways. (In 1909: Social-Democrats won 27% of seats, Conservatives won 31% of seats, "National-Liberals" won 31% of seats). Voter

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241

Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories

Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories

The Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories, Canada, is located in Yellowknife. The Assembly is a unicameral elected body that creates and amends law in the Northwest Territories. The Assembly was founded in 1870 and became active in 1872 with the first appointments from the Government of Canada. Under the Northwest Territories Act the Assembly is officially defined under federal law as Legislative Council. However under Northwest Territories territorial law, it is defined as Legislative Assembly. Under different periods of its history it has alternated names. The Legislative Assembly was first known as the Temporary North-West Council and was created in 1870. The first appointments to the council were made on December 28, 1872. The Temporary Council was dissolved in 1876 and a new permanent council was appointed and moved to the new capital of Fort Livingstone in 1876. The council moved to Battleford a year later based on the planned location of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The very first election to the Assembly would take place on March 23, 1881, as Lawrence Clarke was elected to represent the electoral district of

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242

Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands

Jurisdiction: Cayman Islands

The Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands has 18 members, 15 elected members for a four year term in two-seat constituencies and 3 members ex-officio under the Constitution of 2009. In the elections of 8 November 2000, with a turnout of 80% only non-partisans were elected. After the election, conservative members of parliament formed the United Democratic Party. The social democratic People's Progressive Movement formed in response and won the subsequent subsequent election on 11 May 2005 and resumed office until May 2009. Following the Cayman Islands general election 2009 the United Democratic Party took back office and the People's Progressive Movement returned to the opposition. The first-ever meeting of like-minded individuals coming together to discuss the possible legislative future of the Cayman Islands took place on 5 December 1831 at the now beautifully restored great house, Pedro St. James, in the fertile area of Savannah on Grand Cayman. This building is now revered as the seat of parliamentary beginnings in the Cayman Islands. By 1909 what got established as the Legislative Assembly of Justices and Vestry was meeting in the Court House on the waterfront in what is

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243

Legislative Council of Hong Kong

Jurisdiction: Hong Kong
Body this is a component of: Government of Hong Kong

The Legislative Council or the LegCo is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule. Hong Kong's first constitution, in the form of Queen Victoria's Letters Patent which was entitled the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong, authorized the establishment of the Legislative Council to advise the Governor's administration. The Council had four Official members when it was first established. The first direct elections of the Legislative Council were held in 1991. The Legislative Council became a fully elected legislature for the first time in its history in 1995. To prepare for the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the British government to the Chinese government, a Provisional Legislative Council was established by the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) under the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China in 1996. The Provisional Legislative Council, in operation from January 1997 to June 1998, initially held its meetings in Shenzhen. The Legislative Council of the HKSAR was established in 1998 under The Basic Law of

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244

Maryland House of Delegates

Jurisdiction: Maryland
Body this is a component of: Maryland General Assembly

The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis. The state capitol building also houses the Maryland Senate chamber and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the state of Maryland. Each Delegate has offices in Annapolis, in the Taylor House Office Building. The Maryland House of Delegates originated as the Lower House of the General Assembly in 1650, when the legislature became a bicameral body. The Lower House often fought with the Upper House for political influence in the colony. The Upper House consisted of the governor and his council, all personally appointed by Lord Baltimore, and were thus more dedicated to protect his interests in Maryland. Conversely, the Lower House pushed for change in the colony, claiming to be the true elected representatives of the people. In this context, the Lower House continually fought for more power by asserting exclusive rights in certain legislative areas, such as levying taxes and originating money

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245

National Assembly of Iraq

Jurisdiction: Iraq

The National Assembly of Iraq was the parliament of Iraq during the Occupation of Iraq. It was created under the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, and its representatives were chosen in the Iraqi parliamentary election, January 2005.

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246

National Assembly of Jordan

Jurisdiction: Jordan
Component bodies: Chamber of Deputies of Jordan

The parliament of Jordan, the National Assembly (مجلس الأمة Majlis al-'Umma) has two chambers.

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247

National Council of Austria

Jurisdiction: Austria
Body this is a component of: Parliament of Austria

The National Council (German: Nationalrat) is one of the two houses of the Austrian parliament. According to the constitution, the National Council and the complementary Federal Council are peers. As a practical matter, the National Council is decidedly more powerful, though it is frequently described as the lower house. The National Council is where Austria's federal legislative authority is concentrated; for a bill to become federal law, it must be resolved upon by this chamber. Bills passed by the National Council are sent to the Federal Council for corroboration. If the Federal Council approves of the bill or simply does nothing for eight weeks, the bill has succeeded. If the Federal Council vetoes the bill, the National Council may still force it into law by essentially just passing it again; a National Council resolution overruling a Federal Council objection merely has to meet a higher quorum than a regular resolution. In other words, the Federal Council does not have any real power to prevent adoption of legislation, the National Council being trivially able to override it. There are three exceptions to this rule: bills amending constitutional law, bills curtailing the

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248

Nottingham City Council

Jurisdiction: Nottingham

Nottingham City Council is the non-metropolitan district council for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. It is led by Jon Collins, of the majority Labour Party. The deputy leader of the council is Cllr Graham Chapman. The last elections were held on Thursday 5 May 2011. † Cllr Mick Newton left the Labour Party and became an independent councillor in March 2011, leaving Labour with 41 councillors. ‡ In 2003, 6 weeks after the election 5 Lib Dems split from their party to form a group of Independents.

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249

Plano City Council

Jurisdiction: Plano

The Plano City Council is the governing body of the City of Plano, Texas, United States. The Council operates using the council-manager government. They hold regular meetings at the Plano Municipal Center on the second and fourth Monday of every month at 7 p.m. During the month of July, the meeting dates are revised. The Plano City Council is composed of eight members from four administrative districts. Each councilmember serves a three-year term, extended from two-years by the passing of a charter amendment in 2005. They are limited to being elected to three terms. The mayor is also elected to a three-year term with a three-term limit. All councilmembers are elected by popular vote of the entire city of Plano. Those running for Places 1 through 4 must reside in the district that corresponds to that place number. Places 5 through 8 do not have residency restrictions. Place 6 is always the mayor. The Mayor receives a yearly stipend of $8,400, and each councilmember receives $6,000. Leadership: ! Place!! Name!! |- | 1 || Pat Miner || |- | 2 || Ben Harris || |- | 3 || André Davidson || |- | 4 || Lissa Smith || |- | 5 || Jim Duggan || |- | 6 || Phil Dyer || |- | 7 || Pat Gallagher ||

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250

Tweede Kamer

Jurisdiction: Netherlands
Body this is a component of: States-General of the Netherlands

The House of Representatives (Dutch: Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal [ˈtʋeːdə ˈkaːmər dər ˈstaːtə(n) ˌɣeːnəˈraːɫ] ( listen), or simply: Tweede Kamer, literally, Second Chamber) is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States-General, the other one being the Senate of the Netherlands. It has 150 seats which are filled through elections using a party-list proportional representation. It sits in The Hague. Although this body is called the "House of Representatives" in English, this is not a direct translation of its Dutch name, the "Second Chamber" or more colloquially just the "Chamber". Rather than "representatives" (afgevaardigden), members of the House are referred to as Tweede Kamerlid ("member of the Second Chamber"). The House of Representatives is the main chamber of parliament, where discussion of proposed legislation and review of the actions of the cabinet takes place. Both the Cabinet and the House of Representatives itself have the right to propose legislation; the House of Representatives discusses it and, if adopted by a majority, sends it on to the Senate of the Netherlands (Eerste Kamer, literally "First Chamber"). Review of the actions

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