Two-Chamber Legislature

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

Proposal:

A two-chamber legislature is comprised of an assembly and a senate.

The assembly is a chamber that represents the people. Votes in the assembly are allocated based on population. The assembly drafts, edits, and proposes new laws or resolutions or amendments to existing laws or to the constitution of that level of government.

The senate is a chamber that represents the next lower level of government. Votes in the senate are allocated equally to each member. The senate does not draft or edit laws or resolutions. The senate votes to approve or reject laws and resolutions enacted in the assembly.

Any procedural requirements for majority or supermajority shall apply to both chambers.

A two-chamber legislature shall not be used for legislatures in the lowest level of government.

Intent:

To prevent the legislature from wasting time resolving conflicting versions of similar laws or resolutions enacted by the two chambers. To clarify the role of the senate as protecting the member governments from a tyranny of the majority, for which it needs to be able to block proposals that are harmful but not to propose new ones.

This proposal does not intend to rename existing legislatures, only to propose an improvement in the way two-chamber legislatures operate if they are not already operating this way.

Discussion:

In a two-chamber legislature for a federation of states, the assembly represents all the people in the federation and the senate represents the states.

In a two-chamber legislature for a state comprised of counties or provinces, the assembly represents all the people in the state and the senate represents the counties or provinces or cities.

In a two-chamber legislature for a county or province, the assembly represents all the people in that county or province and the senate represents the voting districts.

In a two-chamber legislature for a city, the assembly represents all the people in that city and the senate represents the neighborhoods or voting districts.

The assembly drafts, edits, and proposes new laws or resolutions or amendments to existing laws or to the constitution of that level of government. The federal assembly can propose amendments to the federal constitution. The state assembly can propose amendments to the state constitution. The local assembly for a county or province or city can propose amendments to the local constitution or charter.

The senate does not draft or edit laws or resolutions. The senate votes to approve or reject laws and resolutions enacted in the assembly. This prevents the emergence of conflicting versions of a law or resolution that must then be resolved, and prevents an immense flaw in democracy when such conflicts are resolved without bringing the final version of the law or resolution back to the assembly and senate for a final vote, relying on the assumption that an approval of an earlier version of it amounts to approval of the final version.

If a legislature has two bodies, such as the House of Representatives and the Senate in the United States, only one of them should be responsible for introducing new legislation. If legislation can start in either body, then it’s possible for two similar laws to be proposed in the two bodies and if both are approved by vote then they have to be reconciled — and in the United States, this happens without another vote on the final draft by both bodies, which means that unscrupulous editors can insert or remove things that wouldn’t have passed a vote.

If a legislature has two chambers, such as the House of Representatives and the Senate in the United States, only one of them should be responsible for introducing new legislation. If legislation can start in either body, then it’s possible for two similar laws to be proposed in the two bodies and if both are approved by vote then they have to be reconciled — and in the United States, this happens without another vote on the final draft by both bodies, which means that unscrupulous editors can insert or remove things that wouldn’t have passed a vote.

Any procedural requirements for majority or supermajority shall apply to both chambers. If a simple majority is required to approve a proposal, both the assembly and senate must approve it with a simple majority. If a two thirds or four fifths or other supermajority is required to approve a proposal, the same supermajority shall be required in both the assembly and the senate.

A two-chamber legislature shall not be used for legislatures in the lowest level of government. This restriction prevents the imposition of a second senate chamber that does not represent the people nor anyone the people elected. Such frivolous second chambers are an opportunity for the rich and powerful and influential people to act as overlords and block the passage of local laws or ordinances or demand concessions for their cooperation in their gatekeeping role, and for membership in such frivolous bodies to be granted in exchange for favors.

Terminology

The United States is a federation of states and it has an assembly called the House of Representatives and a senate called the Senate. Most states have legislatures in which the assembly is either called the House of Representatives or the Assembly and in which the senate is called the Senate or State Senate. This proposal is not intended to rename any of them, only to offer a better way to operate if they are currently allowing both the assembly and the senate to draft and edit legislation.

Another term for two-chamber legislature is bi-cameral legislature, and the idea of using a two-chamber legislature is also called bicameralism. This proposal is not intended to propose using a two-chamber legislature where it isn’t needed, only to propose a way for it to operate where it is needed or already exists.

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