|
A senate is a deliberative body, often the
upper house or chamber of a legislature. The word senate is derived from the Latin word
senex (old man), via the Latin word senatus (senate). Its meaning comes from a very ancient form of even simple
social organisation in which the decisional power is reserved to the eldest men. For the same reason, the word senate is
correctly used when referring to any powerful authority characteristically composed by the eldest members of a community, as a
deliberative body of a faculty in an institution of higher learning is often called a senate. The original senate was the
Roman Senate.
Modern democratic states with bicameral parliamentary systems are sometimes
organised with a senate, often distinguished by an ordinary parallel lower
house (usually called the 'House of Representatives', 'Chamber of Deputies' or 'National Assembly'), by electoral rules
(minimum age required for voters and candidates, proportional or majoritarian/plurality system, electoral basis =
collegium). Typically, the senate is referred to as the upper house and has a smaller membership than the lower
house.
An example of this is the United States Senate where the
number of seats is fixed at two per state, regardless of size. In a federal system, the senate often serves a balancing effect by
giving a larger share of power to regions and groups which would otherwise be overwhelmed in a purely representative system. In
the legislatures of U.S. states, Senates were also used for this purpose
until the 1963 case of Baker v. Carr, in which the Supreme Court of the United States
ruled that state legislatures must apportion seats in both houses according to population. However, there are still typically
fewer members of a state Senate than there are members of the lower house.
In the United States, each of its member states has a Senate and a
lower chamber, known variously as the House of Representatives, House of Delegates, General Assembly or Assembly, except for the
state of Nebraska, where the Senate is the only body of a unicameral legislature.
Examples of senates in other states include the Australian
Senate, the Canadian Senate, the French Senate, the Irish Senate (Seanad
Éireann), the Italian Senate,
the Philippine Senate, and the Senate of Poland.
A senate can also be the name of an executive branch of government. Until 1919, the Senate of Finland was the executive branch and supreme court. In the German city Länder or states, of Berlin,
Bremen, and Hamburg, the executive branch
of government is called the Senate, with Senators holding ministerial portfolios.
|