unicameral legislature

Examples of unicameral legislature in the following topics:

• State Constitutions

  • They had also elected conventions and "legislatures" that existed outside of any currently established legal framework.
  • Bicameral legislatures, with the upper house serving as a check on the lower
  • Strong governors with veto power over the legislature and substantial appointment authority
  • In 1790, conservatives gained power in the state legislature, called for a new constitutional convention, and rewrote the constitution.
  • The new constitution substantially reduced universal white-male suffrage, gave the governor veto power and patronage appointment authority, and added to the unicameral legislature an upper house with substantial wealth qualifications.

• Constitutional Issues and Compromises

  • There was to be a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and a House of Delegates.
  • Under the New Jersey Plan, the unicameral legislature with one vote per state was inherited from the Articles of Confederation.
  • The plan featured a bicameral legislature, the lower house elected by the people for three years.
  • State governors would be appointed by the national legislature, and the national legislature had veto power over any state legislation.
  • The Pinckney Plan proposed a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and a House of Delegates.

• The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

  • One contentious issue facing the convention was the manner in which large and small states would be represented in the legislature.
  • The Virginia Plan proposed a bicameral legislature, a legislative branch with two chambers.
  • This legislature would contain the dual principles of rotation in office and recall, applied to the lower house of the national legislature .
  • Members of that chamber would then elect the second chamber from nominations submitted by state legislatures.
  • Under the New Jersey Plan, the unicameral legislature with one vote per state was inherited from the Articles of Confederation.

• The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

  • The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers (bicameral legislature).
  • The dual principles of rotation in office and recall would be applied to the lower house of the national legislature.
  • Members of one of the two legislative chambers would be elected by the people and members of that chamber would then elect the second chamber from nominations submitted by state legislatures.
  • The New Jersey Plan, on the other hand, proposed a unicameral legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote, as under the Articles of Confederation.
  • Perhaps the most important of these was introduced by the Connecticut Compromise, which established a bicameral legislature with the U.S.

• The Constitutional Convention

  • In its proposal, both houses of the legislature would be determined proportionately.
  • The executive branch would exist solely to ensure that the will of the legislature was carried out and, therefore, would be selected by the legislature.
  • Under the New Jersey Plan, the unicameral legislature with one vote per state was inherited from the Articles of Confederation .

• A New Constitution

  • One of the key debates during the drafting of the Constitution regarded state representation in the legislature.
  • Delegates also accepted the need for either a unicameral (one-house) or a bicameral (two-house) legislature.
  • This plan also proposed a bicameral legislature.
  • Members of one of the two legislative chambers would be elected by the people, and members of that chamber would then elect those of the second chamber from nominations submitted by state legislatures.
  • This plan proposed a unicameral legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote.

• Decisions, Decisions!

  • Which is the better way to arrange a legislature, unicameral or bicameral?

• Conclusion: The Development of the Constitution

  • Would state legislatures choose representatives?
  • The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers (bicameral legislature).
  • In contrast, the New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote.
  • The Connecticut Compromise established a bicameral legislature, with the House of Representatives apportioned by population as desired by the Virginia Plan and the Senate granted equal votes per state as desired by the New Jersey Plan—combining the two plans in a workable whole.
  • Thus, to avoid giving the people too much direct power, the delegates ensured that senators were chosen by the state legislatures, not elected directly by the people (direct elections of senators came with the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1913).

• Bicameralism

  • Bicameral legislatures tend to require a concurrent majority to pass legislation.
  • The Founding Fathers of the United States favored a bicameral legislature.
  • During the 1930s, the Legislature of the State of Nebraska was reduced from bicameral to unicameral with the 43 members that once comprised that state's Senate.
  • One of the arguments used to sell the idea at the time to Nebraska voters was that by adopting a unicameral system, the perceived evils of the conference committee process would be eliminated.
  • Ventura argued that bicameral legislatures for provincial and local areas were excessive and unnecessary, and discussed unicameralism as a reform that could address many legislative and budgetary problems for states.

• The Constitution of 1791

  • For instance, the Marquis de Lafayette proposed a combination of the American and British systems, introducing a bicameral parliament, with the king having the suspensive veto power over the legislature, modeled on the authority then recently vested in the President of the United States.
  • The main early controversies surrounded the issues of what level of power should be granted to the king of France and what form would the legislature take (i.e.: unicameral or bicameral).
  • The Constitutional Committee proposed a bicameral legislature, but the motion was defeated in favor of one house.
  • They also proposed an absolute veto, but were again defeated in favor of a suspensive veto, which could be overridden by three consecutive legislatures.
  • Because the National Assembly was both a legislature and a constitutional convention, it was not always clear when its decrees were constitutional articles or mere statutes.