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This article or section contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed.

An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house^{citation needed}.

Contents 1 Possible specific characteristics 2 Powers 2.1 Parliamentary systems 2.2 Presidential systems 3 Institutional structure 4 Abolition 5 Titles of upper houses 5.1 Common terms 5.2 Unique titles 6 See also

Possible specific characteristics

An upper house is usually distinct from the lower house in at least one of the following respects:^{citation needed}

• Given less power than the lower house, with special reservations, e.g. only when seizing a proposal by evocation, not on the budget, not the house of reference for majority assent.^{citation needed}
• Only limited legislative matters, such as constitutional amendments, may require its approval.^{citation needed}
• 'Houses of review', in that they cannot start legislation, only consider the lower houses' initiatives. Also, they may not be able to outright veto legislation.^{citation needed}
• In presidential systems, the upper house usually has the sole power to try impeachments against the executive following enabling resolutions passed by the lower house.^{citation needed}
• Composed of members selected in a manner other than by popular election. Examples include hereditary membership or Government appointment.^{citation needed}
• Used to represent the states of a federation.^{citation needed}
• Fewer seats than the lower house (or more if hereditary).^{citation needed}
• If elected, often for longer terms than those of the lower house; if composed of peers or nobles, they generally hold their hereditary seats for life.^{citation needed}
• Elected in portions for staggered terms, rather than all at once.^{citation needed}

Powers

Parliamentary systems

In parliamentary systems the upper house is frequently seen^{weasel words} as an advisory or "revising" chamber^{citation needed}, for this reason its powers of direct action are often^{weasel words} reduced in some way^{citation needed}. Some or all of the following restrictions are often^{weasel words} placed on upper houses:^{citation needed}

• Lack of control over the executive branch.^{citation needed}
• No absolute veto of proposed legislation (though suspensive vetoes are permitted in some states)^{citation needed}
• A reduced role in initiating legislation.^{citation needed}
• It cannot block or modify supply (Though see the Australian Constitutional Crisis of 1975 for an example of an upper house blocking supply).^{citation needed}

It is the role of a revising chamber to scrutinise legislation that may have been drafted over-hastily in the lower house^{citation needed}, and to suggest amendments that the lower house may nevertheless reject if it wishes to^{citation needed}. An example is the British House of Lords, which under the Parliament Acts may not stop, but only delay bills. It is sometimes^{weasel words} seen as having a special role of safeguarding the Constitution of the United Kingdom and important civil liberties against ill-considered change. By delaying but not vetoing legislation, an upper house may nevertheless defeat legislation: by giving the lower house the opportunity to reconsider, by preventing it from having sufficient time for a bill in the legislative schedule, or simply by embarrassing the other chamber into abandoning an unpopular measure.

Nevertheless, some states have long retained powerful upper houses^{citation needed}. For example, the consent of the upper house to legislation may be necessary (though, as noted above, this seldom extends to budgetary measures). Constitutional arrangements of states with powerful upper houses usually include a means to resolve situations where the two houses are at odds with each other.^{citation needed}

In recent times^{weasel words}, Parliamentary systems have witnessed a trend^{weasel words} towards weakening the powers of upper houses relative to their lower counterparts^{citation needed}. Some upper houses have been abolished completely (see below); others have had their powers reduced by constitutional or legislative amendments. Also, conventions often exist that the upper house ought not to obstruct the business of government for frivolous or merely partisan reasons^{citation needed}. These conventions have tended to harden with passage of time.^{citation needed}

Presidential systems

In presidential systems, the upper house is frequently given other powers to compensate for its restrictions^{citation needed}:

• It usually has to sign off on appointments the executive makes to the cabinet and other offices.^{citation needed}
• It frequently has the sole authority to give consent to or denounce foreign treaties.^{citation needed}

Institutional structure

There is great variety in the way an upper house members are assembled. It can be directly or indirectly elected, appointed, selected through hereditary means, or a certain mixture of all these systems. In a very similar way the Council of the European Union, is composed by national ministers.

Many upper houses are not directly elected, but appointed: either by the head of government or in some other way. This is usually intended to produce a house of experts or otherwise distinguished citizens, who would not be returned in an election. For example, members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the monarch on the direction of the prime minister.

The seats are sometimes hereditary, as still is partly the case in the British House of Lords, and the Japanese House of Peers (until this house was abolished in 1947).

However, it is also common that the upper house consist of delegates who are indirectly elected by state governments or local officials. For example, in the United States Senate until the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913.

In addition, the upper house of many nations is directly elected, but in different proportions to the lower house - for example, the Senates of Australia and the United States have a fixed number of elected representatives from each state, regardless of the population.

Abolition

Many jurisdictions, such as Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Peru, Venezuela, New Zealand, and most Canadian provinces, once possessed upper houses^{citation needed} but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems. Newfoundland had a Legislative Council prior to joining Canada, as did Ontario when it was Upper Canada. Nebraska is the only state in the United States to have a unicameral legislature, which it achieved when it abolished its lower house^{citation needed} in 1934.

The Australian state of Queensland also once had a legislative council before abolishing it in 1922; at this time members of the Legislative Council (the formal name of the state parliament) were not elected by the citizenry and so the council was found to be undemocratic and thus unconstitutional. As this was a purely internal matter, all other Australian states continue to have bicameral systems.

Titles of upper houses

Common terms

• Senate^{citation needed} - By far the most common
• Legislative Council^{citation needed}
• Council of States (in a Federation) - Federation Council (Russia), Bundesrat (Austria), Council of States (Switzerland), Rajya Sabha (or "Council of States," India), Sangi-in (or "House of Councillors," Japan).^{citation needed}
• Supreme Soviet^{citation needed} - as in the ex-Soviet Union.

Unique titles

• House of Lords - Seen only in the United Kingdom, previously in Ireland^{citation needed}
• Chambre des Pairs (French for 'Chamber of Peers') in France under the restored royal house of Bourbon^{citation needed}
• Dewan Negara (Malay language for 'National Hall') in the Malaysian Parliament^{citation needed}
• Főrendiház or House of Magnates in the former Kingdom of Hungary, also called simply Felsőház i.e. Upper House^{citation needed}
• Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference^{citation needed} (Chinese: 中国人民政治协商会议) - People's Republic of China (not officially an upper house and possesses no legislative power)
• Eerste Kamer (Dutch: First Chamber) - (Senaat-Senate is also frequently used) Netherlands^{citation needed}
• Shura Council (Consultative Council) - Egypt^{citation needed}
• House of Councillors (Japanese: 参議院, Sangi-in) - Japan^{citation needed}
• National Council - Slovenia, also the title of the lower house of the Parliament of Austria^{citation needed}
• House of Elders - Upper house of the Republic of Somaliland; however, the country is internationally unrecognized. The house is shaped to resemble the House of Lords in the UK.^{citation needed}
• Council of the European Union^{citation needed}

See also

• List of national legislatures
• Lower House

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