What is the difference between Unicameral and Bicameral Legislatures?

437 votes

Unicameral and bicameral are classifications of the law-making organ of the state, on the basis of the number of units or chambers constituting the legislature. Every government comprises of three organs, namely the executive, the judiciary and the legislature. The legislature is the branch of the government which is a deliberative body of usually elected persons with the authority to make laws for the state. A unicameral legislature represents one wherein the law-making authority vests in a single central unit, whereas this authority is shared between two separate chambers of parliament in a bicameral legislature. It is important to understand the difference between these two classifications of parliamentary systems seen across the world.
 

Unicameral legislature

Unicameral legislature refers to a parliamentary setup, wherein the law-making authority vests in a single assembly or body. This single house of parliament undertakes and performs all legislative functions of the state such as formulating laws, approving the budget etc. A unicameral legislature is also referred to as unicameralism. The individuals comprising the solitary house of parliament are directly elected by the citizens of a nation and represent its collective will. Owing to centralisation of legislative powers, a unicameral legislature is considered more efficient, since deadlocks are a rare possibility and decisions are arrived at in a relatively short period of time.
 

Bicameral legislature

A bicameral legislature refers to a parliamentary setup where the law-making authority is shared between two separate houses which constitute the parliament. These two bodies are the upper house and the lower house which help in ensuring a holistic representation of all sections of society in the legislative wing of the government. The lower house in a bicameral legislature comprises of individuals directly elected by the citizens of a nation, whereas the members of the upper house are elected by way of an indirect method. The powers, strength and voting methods of the two houses are often distinct from one another.
 

Difference between unicameral and bicameral legislature

The following are the major differences between a unicameral and bicameral form of legislature:

1. A unicameral legislature is characterised by a legislative setup consisting of only one house which exercises all the law-making powers in a state. On the other hand, a bicameral legislature is characterised by a legislative setup, where the law-making powers are shared between two separate houses or assemblies.

2. In a unicameral legislature the law-making powers are centralised in a solitary house of parliament. As opposed to this, in a bicameral legislature, the law-making authority is shared by an upper house and a lower house which constitute the parliament.

3. A unicameral legislature is a distinct feature of a unitary form of government, where all powers are vested in one central governing system. A bicameral legislature on the other hand is a feature of a federal government, where the powers and responsibilities of the state are shared between the centre and the states.

4. A unicameral legislature is often seen as a more efficient form of legislature, since the authority to make laws vests in a single house or assembly, thus decisions are arrived at quicker than in a bicameral legislature. A bicameral legislature on the other hand, due to its two separate houses requires a bill to be passed in both houses to become a statue and is therefore more time consuming.

5. Due to the law-making powers vesting in a single authority in a unicameral legislature, the possibility of a deadlock is extremely rare. However, the same is not the case with a bicameral legislature where deadlocks are a common occurrence. Due to powers being shared by two houses of parliament, a disagreement between the two gives rise to a deadlock, which is settled by way of a joint sitting of both houses.

6. A unicameral legislature is best suited to smaller nations, whereas a bicameral legislature is more suited to larger nations which require division of powers at the central and state level. 

LawRato LawRato

903 votes

Ethics means the science of a standard human conduct. The law consists of a set of rules and regulations, whereas Ethics comprises of guidelines and principles that inform people about how to live or how to behave in a particular situation. ... The law creates a legal binding, but ethics has no such binding on the people.

Advocate Anupam Kumar Mishra LawRato

942 votes

basically it is like in union level we have two house of parliament which is known as bicameral and unicameral is one house .in India at Central level we have two houses which is lok sabha and rajya sabha

Advocate Madhvi Chopra LawRato