Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University. / Though Americans have tended to be untheoretical or undogmatic in their politics, they have persistently believed that a two-house legislature is superior to one having a single chamber. John Adams long ago expressed the attitude which has become traditional when he wrote: "A single assembly is liable to all the vices, follies, and frailities of an individual, subject to fits of humor, starts of passion, flights of enthusiasm, partialities, or prejudices, and consequently productive of hasty results and absurd judgements." The purpose of this paper is to present as clearly as possible the historical background for the adoption of two houses, a subject so extenuous that few have hazarded it. The procedure to be followed is to discuss the various circumstances state by state which brought about bicameralism leaving out those states whose experiences paralleled each other or whose records were too scanty to provide an adequate analysis. These commonwealths include Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Vermont plus an account of bicameralism and the Constitutional Convention of 1787. [TRUNCATED]

Mokslinis darbas parengtas aktualia tema , kurios svarbumą lemia tai, jog panašių tyrimų nėra daug. Šiame darbe analizuojami ir lyginami dvejų ir vienerių rūmų parlamentai. Koncentruojamasi ne tiek į atskirų šalių parlamentus, kiek, pasitelkiant lyginamąją analizę, siekiama išsiaiškinti dvejų ir vienerių rūmų parlamentų skirtumą. Siekiant šio mokslinio darbo tikslo ir įgyvendinant uždavinius pasitelkiami sisteminės analizės, lyginamasis teisės, apibendrinimo, dokumentų analizės, istorinis lyginamasis, įstatymų leidėjo ketinimų, loginis, lingvistinis ir kiti metodai. Be parlamento institucijos šiuolaikinė demokratija ir jos įgyvendinimas taptų sunkiai įsivaizduojamas. Parlamentas – tai valstybės valdžios institucija, geriausiai išreiškianti aukščiausiojo valstybės suvereno – Tautos – valią. Parlamentas yra įstatymų leidybos institucija, tačiau kiekviena šalis pati nusprendžia kokį modelį – vienerių ar dvejų rūmų – pasirinkti. Darbo pradžioje analizuojama parlamentarizmo istorija. Toliau trumpai apžvelgiama valdžių padalijimo teorijos genezė ir parlamento, kaip įstatymų leidybos institucijos reikšmė šioje teorijoje ir skirtingose jos atšakose. Taip pat aiškinamasi, kokios priežastys lemia valstybių apsisprendimą pasirinkti vieną ar kitą parlamento modelį. Antrojoje dalyje analizuojami konkrečių valstybių (Lietuvos ir Švedijos), pasirinkusių vienerių rūmų parlamentą, pavyzdžiai – aiškinamasi, kaip formuojamas parlamentas, kokia jo vidinė struktūra, kaip vyksta įstatymų leidybos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of this research is topical and important, because there are not a lot of similar researches. This study works on bicameral and unicameral parliaments – they are analysed and compared. The very concentration of the work is not to scrutinize the parliaments of different countries, but, to find differences in the way of comparison and analyse between unicameralism and bicameralism. For the purpose to reach the goal and to implement tasks of this research, we use methods of systematic analyse, comparison of law, concluding, analyse of documents, historical comparison, intentions of the legislator, logical, linguistic, etc. We can hardly imagine democracy and its implementation without the institution of parliament nowadays. Parliament is institution of public authority. And the parliament expresses the will of the sovereign of the state – the People – in the most proper way. The parliament has the power of legislation, but each country decides which model suits better – unicameralism or bicameralism. Firstly is analysed the history of parliamentarism. Later is presentation of short view of genesis of the theory of separation of powers and what place parliament takes in it. Also is looking for and analysing the reasons, why countries choose one or other model of parliament. In the second part of this research we have chosen for analyse examples of different countries (Lithuania and Sweden), which have unicameral parliament. Is scrutinized the model of composition... [to full text]

The present Master's thesis seeks to analyze the constitutional system of the Czech Republic in the point of its bicameralism compared to the constitutional system of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic. There is a question of advantageousness of transformation into unicameral constitutional system of Czech Republic ceteris paribus. The work's hypothesis assumes the bicameral parliament states are more successful than unicameral in their economic indicators. This assumption is based on the fact being a state of law where all activities must be in compliance with law which is given by a parliament and economy of the state is determinated by the quality of the rules. This paper does not use the mainstream way of constitutinal law or political science analysis as a main method but prefer the Law and Economics (LAE) and the first mentioned is used as a part of work hypothesis only. GDP per capita is used becouse of its eligibility to be the most depictive economic indicator. Due to the lack of relevant data set World Bank statistics in US dollars of recent price level are used. The mentioned countries were chosen as the low rate of unobserved heterogenity states, decreasing the possibility of inexact analysis but these countries are different in the number of parliament houses and...

The present Master's thesis seeks to analyze the constitutional system of the Czech Republic in the point of its bicameralism compared to the constitutional system of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic. The work's hypothesis assumes the bicameral parliament states are more successful than unicameral in their economic indicators. This assumption is based on the fact being a state of law where all activities must be in compliance with law which is given by a parliament and economy of the state is determinated by the quality of the rules. This paper does not use the mainstream way of constitutinal law or political science analysis as a main method but prefer the Law and Economics (LAE) and the first mentioned is used as corrective element only. GDP per capita is used becouse of its eligibility to be the most depictive economic indicator. Due to the lack of relevant data set World Bank statistics in US dollars of recent price level are used. The mentioned countries were chosen as the low rate of unobserved heterogenity states, decreasing the possibility of inexact analysis but these countries are different in the number of parliament houses and it permits to use Difference-in-differences method (DID). The used DID is very similar to the placebo response and it helps to distinguish...

本論文は、参議院の強大さが指摘される中、二院制及び参議院が機能しているのかどうかを実証的に検証している。分析の結果、二院制は国民によって求められているものの、民主主義の質を引き下げるといえる。また、我が国の参議院の行政府監視機能を検証した結果、一定の効果をあげていることが明らかとなった。この結果を踏まえ、参議院改革を検討するならば、参議院を存続させ、さらなる行政府監視が行えるような制度改革を行っていくべきであるといえる。 / The purpose of this paper is to verify the bicameral system and House of Councilors proper function, pointing out the House of Councilors' strength. Through analysis results, it is found that bicameral system is required by people, and that would reduce democratic quality. Moreover, the verification of the administrative monitoring function of the House of Councilors, would show the achievement of a certain degree effect. if the consideration of the Upper House reform is based on such results, the House of Councilors is retained and it can be stated that the institutional reform, which can perform the further administrative surveilance, should be performed. / 博士(政策科学) / Doctor of Philosophy in Policy and Management / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

Sous la Ve République, la seconde chambre a été conçue par le constituant comme un soutien prédisposé au Gouvernement et au régime nouvellement établi, eu égard à l’incertitude d’une majorité parlementaire à l’Assemblée nationale. La survenue imprévue de celle-ci aboutit à un rapprochement organique mais aussi fonctionnel de l’Assemblée nationale avec le Gouvernement. La discordance fréquente des majorités parlementaires place alors le Sénat et le bicamérisme dans une position institutionnelle délicate. Devenu un acquis du système politique, le fait majoritaire s’observe incontestablement, depuis l’alternance de 1981, au sein comme entre les deux chambres et influence leur organisation, leur fonctionnement et l’exercice de leurs prérogatives constitutionnelles. Les différentes configurations majoritaires témoignent en revanche d’une certaine spécificité du Sénat du point de vue du fait majoritaire et d’un exercice effectif et non orienté de la fonction parlementaire vis-à-vis du Gouvernement. Le Sénat trouve sa justification dans sa différenciation avec l’autre assemblée et la distanciation qu’il entretient avec le Gouvernement révèle le caractère équilibré du bicamérisme de la Ve République. L’institutionnalisation d’une majorité et ses particularités dans chacune des deux chambres conduisent le droit constitutionnel et le droit parlementaire à ne pas exclure les phénomènes extra-normatifs afin d’appréhender les institutions politiques dans leur fonctionnement effectif. / At the time of the Fifth Republic, the second chamber was devised by the framers of the Constitution as a predisposed support to the Government and the newly-established regime, given the uncertainty of a parliamentary majority within the National Assembly. The unexpected arrival of such a majority led to a closer organic and functional relationship between the National Assembly and the Government. The frequent lack of harmony between parliamentary majorities then put the Senate and the bicameral system in a delicate institutional position. Having become an established right of the political system, majority rule has clearly been observed since the 1981 power changeover, both inside either chamber and between them. It also affects their organisation, the way they operate and exercise their constitutional prerogatives. However, the different majority configurations show a certain specificity of the Senate from the majority rule point of view and in the actual and non-oriented exercise of its parliamentary function in relation with the other chamber, and its distancingfrom the Government reveals the well-balanced nature of the Fifth Republic's bicameralism. As that majority became institutionalised, and because of its specificities in ether chamber, constitutional law and parliamentary law were led not to exclude non-normative occurences in order to gain an understanding of the way political institutions actually work.

The presented diploma thesis "Alternatives for the regional reform of the Czech Senate" frames on the basis of a comparative analysis of regional second chambers in the West European countries the possible alternatives for the regional reform of the Czech Senate. The comparative analysis of second chambers of parliaments in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and France identifies the similarities and differences between the examined second chambers, in particular with respect to their historical origin, way of election, size, constitutional powers, relation to the first chamber and relation to the executive branch of the government. The examined second chambers are classified according to A. Lijphart's typological concept on the scale of strong - medium strength - weak bicameralism. The comparative analysis is then the source for the framing of specific alternatives for the regional reform of the Czech Senate. The main conclusions of the thesis are: (1) examined West European regional second chambers fall within the types of medium strength and weak bicameralism, (2) the hypothesis about the weaker position of second chambers in unitary states is partially confirmed, and (3) the framing of representative and functional alternatives for the regional reform of the Czech Senate.