POL SCI 50 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Party System, Unicameralism, The Strongest
Document Summary
Symmetry is the relative power of both houses of the legislature. In asymmetrical bicameralism, one house (the lower house) has more power than the other house. The main way that the lower house is more powerful than the upper house is through budgetary powers. In symmetrical bicameralism, both the upper house and the lower house have about the same amount of power. An example of symmetrical bicameralism is the united states. Unicameralism means that there is 1 legislative chamber (denmark, sweden, Bicameralism means that there are 2 legislative chambers (usa, britain, Larger countries tend to be bicameral because they have regional distinctions and diverse populations. Unicameralism and bicameralism work in both parliamentary and presidential systems. Congruence is the extent to which both chambers of the legislature have the same preferences. In congruent bicameralism, both of the chambers have the same legislative preferences (italy and california). In incongruent bicameralism, the two chambers have different legislative preferences (australia, germany, usa).
