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30-654: The State Legislative Council , or Vidhan Parishad is the upper house in those states of India that have a bicameral state legislature ; the lower house being the State Legislative Assembly . Its establishment is defined in Article 169 of the Constitution of India . Only 6 out of 28 states have a Legislative Council. These are Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , Telangana , Maharashtra , Bihar , and Uttar Pradesh . No union territory has

60-407: A unicameral legislature. The same goes with Sweden , and its " Riksdag " until 1971. The Norwegian parliament ( Storting ) was officially divided in two chambers 1814–2009, but functioned as a single chamber in practice, a situation called Qualified unicameralism . The floor is the name for the full assembly, and a committee is a small deliberative assembly that is usually subordinate to

90-824: A Legislative Council prior to joining Canada , as did Ontario when it was Upper Canada and Quebec from 1791 (as Lower Canada ) to 1968. Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral legislature, having abolished its lower house in 1934, while the Senate of Nebraska , the upper house prior to 1934, continues to assemble. The Australian state of Queensland also once had an appointed Legislative Council before abolishing it in 1922. All other Australian states continue to have bicameral systems, though all members are now directly elected (the two self-governing territories, along with Norfolk Island until 2016, have always been unicameral). Like Queensland,

120-473: A State Legislative Council has proven politically controversial. A number of states that have had their Legislative Council abolished have subsequently requested its re-establishment; conversely, proposals for the re-establishment of the Legislative Council for a state have also met with opposition. Proposals for abolition or re-establishment of a state's Legislative Council require confirmation by

150-576: A legislative council. Members of a State Legislative Council (MLC) must be a citizen of India , at least 30 years old, mentally sound , not an insolvent , and must be an enrolled voter of the state. A member may not be a Member of Parliament and Member of the State Legislative Assembly at the same time. A member must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any state. The tenure of

180-410: A lower house) is described as unicameral . An upper house is usually different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects (though they vary among jurisdictions): Powers: Status: In parliamentary systems the upper house is frequently seen as an advisory or a "house of review" chamber; for this reason, its powers of direct action are often reduced in some way. Some or all of

210-504: A new lower house that no longer wishes to proceed with the bill. Nevertheless, some states have long retained powerful upper houses. For example, the consent of the upper house to legislation may be necessary (though, as noted above, this seldom extends to budgetary measures). Constitutional arrangements of states with powerful upper houses usually include a means to resolve situations where the two houses are at odds with each other. In recent times, parliamentary systems have tended to weaken

240-592: A position which is known as "perfect bicameralism" or "equal bicameralism." The role of a revising chamber is to scrutinise legislation that may have been drafted over-hastily in the lower house and to suggest amendments that the lower house may nevertheless reject if it wishes to. An example is the British House of Lords . Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 , the House of Lords can no longer prevent

270-435: Is considered a burden on the state budget and cause delays in passing legislation. State legislative council helps the defeated leaders to get a seat in the state legislature . This reduces the feeling of democracy, since the leaders are elected indirectly. These are the reasons why most of the states don't prefer legislative councils. Other states support the establishment of legislative councils, arguing that they represent

300-575: Is usually composed of at least 100 members , in countries with populations of over 3 million. The number of seats rarely exceeds 400, even in very large countries. Among the countries with large lower houses are France, where the National Assembly has 577 members, and Japan, where the House of Representatives has 475 members. The upper house of a parliament customarily has anywhere from 20 to 200 seats, but almost always significantly fewer than

330-517: The German state of Bavaria had an appointed second chamber, the Senate of Bavaria , from 1946 to 1999. The Senate of the Philippines was abolished – and restored – twice: from 1935 to 1945 when a unicameral National Assembly convened, and from 1972 to 1987 when Congress was closed, and later a new constitution was approved instituting a unicameral Parliament. The Senate was re-instituted with

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360-562: The Parliament of India . The Constitution of India gives limited power to the State Legislative Council. The State Legislative Council can neither form or dissolve a state government . The State Legislative Council also have no role in the passing of money bills . But some of the powers it has is that the chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council enjoy the same status of Cabinet Ministers in

390-571: The Rajya Sabha in India are nominated by various states and union territories, while 12 of them are nominated by the President of India. Similarly, at the state level, one-third of the members of the State Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) are nominated by local governments, one-third by sitting legislators, and the rest are elected by select members of the electorate. The United States Senate

420-667: The Senate of Canada are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In the past, some upper houses had seats that were entirely hereditary, such as in the British House of Lords until 1999 and in the Japanese House of Peers until it was abolished in 1947. It is also common that the upper house consists of delegates chosen by state governments or local officials. Members of

450-486: The local governments and also give voice to people having expertise in various fields (through Gubernatorial nominations). Upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature , the other chamber being the lower house . The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor

480-640: The Labour Government of 1999 tried to expel all hereditary peers from the Lords, the Lords threatened to wreck the Government's entire legislative agenda and to block every bill which was sent to the chamber. This standoff led to negotiations between Viscount Cranborne, the then Shadow Leader of the House, and the Labour Government, resulting in the Weatherill Amendment to the House of Lords Act 1999 , which preserved 92 hereditary peers in

510-456: The MLCs are six years. One-third of the members of State Legislative Council retire after every two years. This arrangement parallels that for the Rajya Sabha , the upper house of the Parliament of India . The size of the State Legislative Council cannot be more than one third of the membership of the State Legislative Assembly. However, its size cannot be less than 40 members. These members elect

540-467: The abolition, while the centrist Fianna Fáil was alone among major parties in supporting the retention of the Seanad. Legislative chamber In a bicameral legislature, the two bodies are often referred to as an upper and a lower house, where the latter is often regarded as more particularly the representatives of the people. The lower house is almost always the originator of legislation , and

570-555: The chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council. MLCs are chosen in the following manner: According to the Article 169 of the Constitution of India, the Parliament of India can create or abolish the State Legislative Council of a state if that state's legislature passes a resolution for that with a special majority. As of 9 January 2024, 6 out of the 28 states have State Legislative Council. The existence of

600-484: The following restrictions are often placed on upper houses: In parliamentary democracies and among European upper houses the Italian Senate is a notable exception to these general rules, in that it has the same powers as its lower counterpart: any law can be initiated in either house and must be approved in the same form by both houses. Additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office,

630-467: The house. Compromise and negotiation between the two houses make the Parliament Act a very rarely used backup plan. Even without a veto, an upper house may defeat legislation. Its opposition may give the lower chamber a chance to reconsider or even abandon a controversial measure. It can also delay a bill so that it does not fit within the legislative schedule, or until a general election produces

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660-602: The lower house. In the United Kingdom however, the lower house (the House of Commons ) has 650 members, but the upper house (the House of Lords ) currently has slightly more members than the lower house, and at one time (before the exclusion of most of the hereditary peers ) had considerably more. Until 1953, the Rigsdag in Denmark was divided into two houses, the " Folketing " and " Landsting ", but has since become

690-457: The passage of most bills, but it must be given an opportunity to debate them and propose amendments, and can thereby delay the passage of a bill with which it disagrees. Bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month. The House of Lords is sometimes seen as having a special role of safeguarding

720-424: The powers of upper houses relative to their lower counterparts. Some upper houses have been fully abolished; others have had their powers reduced by constitutional or legislative amendments. Also, conventions often exist that the upper house ought not to obstruct the business of government for frivolous or merely partisan reasons. These conventions have tended to harden with a passage of time. In presidential systems,

750-533: The restoration of a bicameral Congress via a constitutional amendment in 1941, and via adoption of a new constitution in 1987. A previous government of Ireland (the 31st Dáil) promised a referendum on the abolition of its upper house , the Seanad Éireann , during the 24th Seanad session. By a narrow margin, the Irish public voted to retain it. Conservative-leaning Fine Gael and Left-leaning Sinn Féin both supported

780-535: The state. The Bharatiya Janata Party -led National Democratic Alliance is in power in 4 legislative councils; the Indian National Congress -led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance is in power in 2 legislative councils; and 30 other states/union territories do not have a legislative council. There are currently 4 proposals for creation of Legislative Councils: The State Legislative Councils are criticised for being unnecessary. It

810-443: The uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom and important civil liberties against ill-considered change. The House of Lords has a number of ways to block legislation and to reject it; however, the House of Commons can eventually use the Parliament Act to force something through. The Commons will often accept amendments passed by the Lords; however, the two houses have sometimes reached a constitutional standoff. For example, when

840-526: The upper house is frequently given other powers to compensate for its restrictions: There are a variety of ways an upper house's members are assembled: by direct or indirect election, appointment or a mixture of these. Many upper houses are not directly elected but appointed: either by the head of state, by the head of government or in some other way. This is usually intended to produce a house of experts or otherwise distinguished citizens, who would not necessarily be returned in an election. For example, members of

870-477: The upper house is the body that offers the "second look" and decides whether to veto or approve the bills . In the United Kingdom legislation can be originated in either house, but the lower house can ultimately prevail if the two houses repeatedly disagree. In most countries the lower house also has sole or predominant control over matters to do with finance and taxation . A parliament's lower house

900-867: Was chosen by state legislatures until the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The upper house may be directly elected but in different proportions to the lower house - for example, the senates of Australia, Brazil and the United States have a fixed number of elected members from each state, regardless of the population. Many jurisdictions once possessed upper houses but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems, including Croatia , Denmark , Estonia , Hungary , Iceland , Iran , Mauritania , New Zealand , Peru , Sweden , Turkey , Venezuela , many Indian states , Brazilian states , Canadian provinces , subnational entities such as Queensland , and some other jurisdictions. Newfoundland had

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