10 Legislatures and executives
10.1 What does ‘separation of powers’ mean?
separation of powers = the doctrine that political power should be divided among
several bodies or officers of the state as a precaution against too much concentration
and abuse of power
According to French philosopher Montesquieu this is best achieved by dividing power
between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, and by
creating checks and balances between them which prevents any single actor from
grabbing control over the entire system and as a consequence becoming too
powerful.
So there are three powers that operate in an autonomous manner…
o executive = the branch of government mainly responsible for initiating
government action, making and implementing public policy and coordinating the
activities of the state
o legislature (see 10.2.1)
o judiciary = the branch of government mainly responsible for the authoritative
interpretation and application of law
10.2 What are legislatures and how do they organize?
10.2.1 What are legislatures?
legislature = branch of government responsible for discussing and passing
legislation, and keeping watch on the executive
generic term, yet sometimes misleading because primary function is often not law-
making
legislature in ‘parliamentary systems’ ➩ parliament (e.g. Belgian parliament)
legislature in ‘presidential systems’ ➩ congress (e.g. US congress)
10.2.2 How do legislatures organize?
Legislatures can be unicameral or bicameral.
o An unicameral legislature consists of one single chamber (e.g. Denmark,
Sweden, Iceland…).
o A bicameral legislature consists of two chambers (e.g. Belgium, USA, UK…).
➩ Large countries are mostly bicameral legislatures. That’s because there are more
people that need to be represented when the population is bigger.
, Two chambers have sometimes different functions.
o First chamber/lower house represents the population.
o Second chamber/upper house/senate represents socially or territorially
defined groups (e.g. in federal states).
Two chambers have sometimes different members.
o First chamber/lower house consists of elected members.
o Second chamber/upper house/senate consists of elected and/or appointed
members. (For example Germans aren’t able to vote for the Composition of
the Bundesrat, the upper house in Germany.)
Bicameralism has different versions.
o strong bicameralism = both chambers have broadly equal powers (e.g. USA,
Italy, Mexico…)
o weak or asymmetric bicameralism = second chamber constitutionally and
politically subordinate to first chamber (e.g. UK, Belgium, Germany…)
Most bicameral systems are weak.
arguments in favour of bicameralism arguments against bicameralism
stronger checks and balances institutional conflict between two
chambers
wider representation slower procedures
better legislation reduced accountability
10.3 What are the functions of legislatures?
10.3.1 Representation of public opinion
Legislatures represent the interests of the electorate and their constituencies
(= kiesdistricten).
interest aggregation = sorting the great variety of political attitudes and opinions on a
political issue in order to reduce it to a simpler, more clear-cut and agreed package of
opinion
interest articulation = the expression of political demands in order to influence public
policy
➩ Legislatures are often not representative of society in socio-economic terms (over-
representation of the “four M’s” in parliaments: men, middle-class, middle-aged and
majority group).
not in countries with
genderquota
10.1 What does ‘separation of powers’ mean?
separation of powers = the doctrine that political power should be divided among
several bodies or officers of the state as a precaution against too much concentration
and abuse of power
According to French philosopher Montesquieu this is best achieved by dividing power
between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, and by
creating checks and balances between them which prevents any single actor from
grabbing control over the entire system and as a consequence becoming too
powerful.
So there are three powers that operate in an autonomous manner…
o executive = the branch of government mainly responsible for initiating
government action, making and implementing public policy and coordinating the
activities of the state
o legislature (see 10.2.1)
o judiciary = the branch of government mainly responsible for the authoritative
interpretation and application of law
10.2 What are legislatures and how do they organize?
10.2.1 What are legislatures?
legislature = branch of government responsible for discussing and passing
legislation, and keeping watch on the executive
generic term, yet sometimes misleading because primary function is often not law-
making
legislature in ‘parliamentary systems’ ➩ parliament (e.g. Belgian parliament)
legislature in ‘presidential systems’ ➩ congress (e.g. US congress)
10.2.2 How do legislatures organize?
Legislatures can be unicameral or bicameral.
o An unicameral legislature consists of one single chamber (e.g. Denmark,
Sweden, Iceland…).
o A bicameral legislature consists of two chambers (e.g. Belgium, USA, UK…).
➩ Large countries are mostly bicameral legislatures. That’s because there are more
people that need to be represented when the population is bigger.
, Two chambers have sometimes different functions.
o First chamber/lower house represents the population.
o Second chamber/upper house/senate represents socially or territorially
defined groups (e.g. in federal states).
Two chambers have sometimes different members.
o First chamber/lower house consists of elected members.
o Second chamber/upper house/senate consists of elected and/or appointed
members. (For example Germans aren’t able to vote for the Composition of
the Bundesrat, the upper house in Germany.)
Bicameralism has different versions.
o strong bicameralism = both chambers have broadly equal powers (e.g. USA,
Italy, Mexico…)
o weak or asymmetric bicameralism = second chamber constitutionally and
politically subordinate to first chamber (e.g. UK, Belgium, Germany…)
Most bicameral systems are weak.
arguments in favour of bicameralism arguments against bicameralism
stronger checks and balances institutional conflict between two
chambers
wider representation slower procedures
better legislation reduced accountability
10.3 What are the functions of legislatures?
10.3.1 Representation of public opinion
Legislatures represent the interests of the electorate and their constituencies
(= kiesdistricten).
interest aggregation = sorting the great variety of political attitudes and opinions on a
political issue in order to reduce it to a simpler, more clear-cut and agreed package of
opinion
interest articulation = the expression of political demands in order to influence public
policy
➩ Legislatures are often not representative of society in socio-economic terms (over-
representation of the “four M’s” in parliaments: men, middle-class, middle-aged and
majority group).
not in countries with
genderquota
