100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Summary legislatures and executives $3.74
Add to cart

Summary

Summary legislatures and executives

 4 views  0 purchase
  • Course
  • Institution
  • Book

Summary of lesson 10 on legislatures and executives by professor Jonas Lefevere (academic year ) that contains information from the handbook, slides and my notes

Preview 2 out of 6  pages

  • No
  • Unknown
  • March 27, 2023
  • 6
  • 2022/2023
  • Summary
avatar-seller
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

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller laerkewydhooge. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for $3.74. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

52510 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now

Start selling
$3.74
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added