Legislatures are institutions where elected representatives from different communities come together to make decisions. Members of a Legislature represent the interests and concerns of the people who elected them (their constituents).
Because different communities have diverse interests, legislatures need to make laws that balance the needs and concerns of different communities as fairly as possible. In order to do this, legislatures research and debate potential laws (bills) for the country. However, because there are so many different needs in a country, these debates can be long and difficult.
Every member of the legislature has the chance to argue for the needs of their constituents. They have an opportunity to raise awareness about what effect a law would have on their community and to persuade other members to vote for or against a law. Legislatures discuss and make changes to a bill until a majority of the members of the assembly agree to it. At this point the bill gets accepted or “passed”. If the bill gets no resistance from the executive or the judiciary, the bill then becomes a law.
Unicameral and Bicameral Legislatures
There are two main kinds of legislative system: unicameral and bicameral. Unicameral systems have legislatures with only one “house” (or group of members). About half of the world’s countries have unicameral legislatures, including China, Nepal and Laos. Bicameral legislatures have two different houses, an upper house and a lower house. Members of the upper house are often elected for a longer time (although not in Myanmar) and chosen because of their background, experience or qualifications. The lower house is chosen directly by the people and for a shorter time. This way the lower house directly represents the current wishes of the people. The upper house makes sure that these wishes are not too dangerous (i.e. lead to rights abuses or violent conflict). This is why upper houses are often allowed to veto or change the decisions of the lower house.
Unlike lower houses, the members of upper houses are not always chosen in elections. Many upper houses are not directly elected, but appointed either by the executive or in some other way. This is usually intended to produce a house of experts or respected citizens, who might not be chosen in an election. For example, in the United Kingdom, members of the upper house are known as “life peers” (citizens chosen by the prime minister for their character, service to their country or experience). In Malaysia, All 70 members of the upper house sit for three-year terms. 26 are elected by the 13 state assemblies, and the remaining 44 are appointed by the head of state upon the Prime Minister’s recommendation. Regional areas may be better represented in the upper house than in the lower. For example, in Australia, Mexico and the United States the upper houses have a fixed number of elected members from each state, regardless of the population. This can help to ensure that minorities’ rights and interests are not ignored by the majority in the lower house (McLaughlin 2013: 78-79).
