Page 222 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Unit 8: Constitutional Structure: Legislature

• The Opposition has a well-recognised and respected place in the British parliamentary system Notes
of government. Since Britain is a two-party state, one party wins absolute majority and forms
the government, the other forms the Opposition.
• The legislative organ of the American federal government is known by the name of the Congress.
Originally a body of 26 Senators and 65 Representatives, it now consists of 100 and 435 members
in the upper and lower chambers respectively.
• The Congress is not a sovereign law-making body like the British Parliament. Its powers of
law-making are limited by the terms of the Constitution. Moreover, a bill passed by the Congress
is subject to the veto of the President which may be over-ridden when it readopts the same bill
by 2/3 majority.
• The executive powers of the Congress include confirmation of all appointments and foreign
treaties (made by the President) by the Senate and approval of the proposal of making war and
peace by a resolution of both the houses.
• The Congress controls the purse of the nation. The Constitution ordains the financial supremacy
of the Congress by specifying that no money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence
of appropriation made by a law.
• The national legislature of Switzerland is known by the name of Federal Assembly. It is a bi-
cameral body having Council of State s and National Council as the upper and lower chambers
respectively.
• The National Council (Nationalrat) is the representative chamber of Swiss Parliament. It has
200 members elected directly by the people by means of proportional representation with list
system and secret ballot. The minimum age of a voter is 20 years and now discrimination on the
ground of sex has been abolished.
• The term of this House is of four years. But mid-term polls may take place in case the two
chambers fail to agree over a proposal for constitutional revision.
• It exercises important executive functions also. In its joint session it elects seven members of the
Federal Council and designates one of them as its President, elects 26 judges of the Federal
Tribunal and designates one of them as its President, elects twelve substitute judges for the
national judiciary, also elects one Commander-in-Chief during war times, elects one Chancellor
to work as the General Secretary of the Federal Council, and elects the members of the Federal
Insurance Tribunal.
• The parliament Federaln Assembly has proven to be a modestly authoritative authoritative and
effective body despite the turmoil surrounding its creation. Several features distinguish it from
its predecessor institutions.
• The Federation Council can only pass it, reject it, or reject it and call for forming an agreement
commission comprising members of both houses to iron out differences. If the Duma rejects the
upper house’s changes, it can override the Federation Council by a two-thirds vote and send
the bill directly on to the president.
• The State Duma has emerged as an assertive and active body. Unlike the Federation Council,
the Duma is organized by party faction. Representatives of its factions—one from each registered
group regardless of size—comprise its steering body, the Council of the Duma.
• The Federation Council has important powers. Besides acting on bills passed by the lower
house, it is also called upon to approve presidential nominees for high courts such as the Supreme
Court and the Constitutional Court. Its approval is required for presidential decrees declaring
martial law or a state of emergency, and any actions altering the boundaries of territorial units
in Russia.
• The Constitution establishes a fundamentally different system under which the lower house
(National Assembly) and the upper one (Senate) “are more nearly co-equal than they were in

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 217