bicameral

Examples of bicameral in the following topics:

• Bicameralism

  • Bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers.
  • Bicameralism is an essential and defining feature of the classical notion of mixed government.
  • Bicameral legislatures tend to require a concurrent majority to pass legislation.
  • The Founding Fathers of the United States favored a bicameral legislature.
  • Describe bicameralism and the Founding Fathers' understanding of its role in American federalism

• Constitutional Issues and Compromises

  • The Virginia Plan was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch .
  • There was to be a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and a House of Delegates.
  • The plan featured a bicameral legislature, the lower house elected by the people for three years.
  • The Pinckney Plan proposed a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and a House of Delegates.

• A New Constitution

  • Delegates also accepted the need for either a unicameral (one-house) or a bicameral (two-house) legislature.
  • This plan also proposed a bicameral legislature.
  • However, the Connecticut Compromise proposed by Roger Sherman outlined a system of bicameral legislation that included both proportional and equal representation.

• The Structure of the Government

  • Delegates largely accepted without dispute the need for a bicameral (two-house) legislature, similar to the British Parliament.
  • However, since the United States had no natural aristocracy (no equivalent to a "House of Lords") they were uncertain as to the character of an American bicameral representative body.
  • However, the "Connecticut Compromise" (more popularly known as the "Great Compromise") proposed by Roger Sherman outlined a system of bicameral legislation that included both proportional and equal representation.

• The Powers of State Government

  • Every state except for Nebraska has a bicameral legislature, comprised of two chambers.

• The Caucus

  • There can also be smaller caucuses in a legislative body, including those that are multi-partisan or bicameral.

• Decisions, Decisions!

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

• The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

  • The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers (bicameral legislature).
  • Perhaps the most important of these was introduced by the Connecticut Compromise, which established a bicameral legislature with the U.S.

• Amending the Constitution

  • It called for a bicameral legislature along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states.This agreement led to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which meant less populous Southern states were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free people toward population counts and allocations.

• The Powers of National Government

  • It is bicameral, comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives.