Lower house

Lower house

A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.

Despite its theoretical position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power. The supremacy of the lower house usually arises from special restrictions placed (either explicitly by legislation or implicitly by convention) on the powers of the upper house, which often can only delay rather than veto legislation or has less control over money bills. Under parliamentary systems it is usually the lower house alone that designates the head of government or prime minister, and may remove them through a vote of no confidence. There are exceptions to this however, such as the Prime Minister of Japan, who is formally selected with the approval of both houses of the Diet. A legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.

Common attributes

In comparison with the upper house, lower houses frequently display certain characteristics:

*Given greater power, usually based on restrictions against the upper house.
*Directly elected (apportionment is usually based on population).
*Given more members.
*Elected more often, and all at once.
*Given total or original control over budget and monetary laws.
*Able to override the upper house in some ways.
*In a presidential system, given the sole power to impeach the executive (the upper house then has to try the impeachment).

Titles of lower houses

Common names

Many lower houses are named in the following manner: House/Chamber of Representatives/the People/Commons/Deputies.

*Chamber of Deputies
*Chamber of Representatives
*House of Assembly
*House of Commons
*House of Representatives
*Legislative Assembly
*National Assembly (hence also Bundestag, German for "federal assembly")

Less common titles

*Congress of Deputies - Spain
*Dáil Éireann - Republic of Ireland
*House of Keys - Isle of Man
*Lok Sabha (House of the People) - India
*National Council - Switzerland, Austria
*Sejm - Poland and Seimas - Lithuania
*State Duma (Государственная Дума - Gosudarstvennaya Duma) - Russia
*Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber) - Netherlands
*Odelsting (Lower house in name only) Norway

ee also

* List of national legislatures
* Upper house


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • Lower House — also .Lower Chamber n [singular] a group of elected representatives who make laws in a country, for example the ↑House of Commons in Britain or the ↑House of Representatives in the US →↑upper house …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • lower house — noun singular part of a legislature, usually the larger part. The other part is called the upper house. In the U.S., the lower house is the House of Representatives …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • lower house — n. [often L H ] in a legislature having two branches, that branch which is usually larger and more representative, as the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress …   English World dictionary

  • lower house — noun : the popular and often the larger and more representative branch of a legislative body having two chambers the lower house of the Dominion Parliament is known as the House of Commons F.A.Magruder * * * ˌlower ˈhouse [lower house] (also… …   Useful english dictionary

  • lower house — UK / US noun [singular] part of a parliament, usually the larger part. The other part is called the upper house. In the UK, the lower house is the House of Commons …   English dictionary

  • lower house — noun the larger, typically elected, body of a bicameral parliament. ↘(the Lower House) (in the UK) the House of Commons …   English new terms dictionary

  • lower house — Synonyms and related words: Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Chamber of Deputies, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, House of Commons, House of Representatives, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Laos,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • lower house — /ˈloʊə haʊs / (say lohuh hows) noun in a bicameral parliament, the lower legislative body, usually more numerous and more directly representative of the electorate than the upper house. Also, lower chamber …  

  • Lower House — also Lower Cham.ber noun (singular) a group of elected representatives who make laws in a country, for example the house of commons in Britain or the house of representatives in the US …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

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