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Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber.Many countries with unicameral legislatures are unitary states and consider an upper house or second chamber unnecessary.
In many instances these states had a second chamber and subsequently abolished it. This is either because an elected upper house had duplicated the lower house and obstructed the passing of legislation, like the Landsting in Denmark (abolished in 1953), or because an appointed chamber had proven ineffectual, like the Legislative Council in New Zealand (abolished in 1951).
Unicameralists argue that the functions of a second chamber, such as reviewing or revising legislation, can be performed by parliamentary committees, while further constitutional safeguards can be provided by a written Constitution.
Examples of single chamber parliaments or legislatures
- National People's Congress in the People's Republic of China
- Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- CroatiaThe Republic of Croatia is a country in Europe bordering the Mediterranean, Central Europe and the Balkans. Its capital is Zagreb. In recent history, it was a republic of Yugoslavia. History Main article: History of Croatia The Croats are a largely Slavicn Sabor
- The FolketingThe Folketing or Folketinget is the name of the national parliament of Denmark. It literally means the People's Ting. History From 1849 to 1953 the Folketing was one of the houses in the bicameral parliament known as the Rigsdag the other house was known of Denmark
- Parlamento Nacional of East TimorThe Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste commonly known as East Timor is an island nation in Southeast Asia, consisting of the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, a political exclave of East Timor
- The Eduskunta of FinlandSuomen TasavaltaRepubliken Finland ( In Detail) ( In Detail) National motto: None Official languages Finnish and Swedish Capital Helsinki President Tarja Halonen Prime minister Matti Vanhanen Area Total % water Ranked 64th 337,030 km² 9. 4% Population Tot
- The Vouli ton Ellinon of GreeceGreece formally called the Hellenic Republic (in Greek: ) Hellenike Demokratia , is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula. It is bounded on land by Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania
- The Althing of Iceland
- Knesset of Israel
- New Zealand House of Representatives
- The Storting of Norway (may divide into two chambers for some purposes)
- Assembly of the Republic of Portugal
- Assemblée Nationale of Seychelles
- Kukhoe of South Korea
- Parliament of Singapore
- Parliament of Sri Lanka
- The Riksdag of Sweden (since 1971)
- Turkey's Büyük Millet Meclisi
- Asamblea Nacional of Venezuela
Some of the subnational entities with unicameral legislatures include Nebraska in the United States, Queensland in Australia, all of the provinces and territories in Canada, and all of the German Bundesländer ( Bavaria having dropped bicameralism in 1999).
In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly are also unicameral.
Virtually all city legislatures are also unicameral in the sense that the city councils aren't divided into two chambers. Until the turn of the 20th century, bicameral city councils were common in the United States.
See also: Bicameralism, Tricameralism, List of national legislatures
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