New Activity
Play Fill in the Blanks Game
A legislature is a type of representative assembly with the power to create , amend and ratify ____________________ . The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law . In most systems , however , legislatures also have other tasks , such as selection and criticism of the government , supervision of administration , ratification of treaties , impeachment of executive and judicial officials . Legislatures , then , are not simply ____________________ bodies . In most systems the executive has a power of veto over legislation , and even where this is lacking , the executive may exercise original or delegated powers of legislation .
Legislatures are known by many names , the most common being ____________________ and ____________________ . In parliamentary systems of government , the legislature is formally supreme and appoints the executive . In presidential system of government , the legislature is considered a power branch which is equal to , and independent of , the executive .
Legislatures differ greatly in their size , the procedures they employ , the role of political parties in legislative action . In size , the British House of Commons is among the largest ; the Icelandic lower house , the New Zealand House of Representatives , and the Senate of Nevada are among the smallest . The primary components of a legislature are one or more ____________________ or houses - assemblies that debate and vote upon bills . A legislature with one house is called ____________________ . A ____________________ legislature possesses two separate chambers , usually described as an upper house and a lower house , which often differ in duties and powers . Most legislatures are bicameral , although New Zealand , Denmark , the state of Queensland in Australia have all abolished their second chamber .
In most parliamentary systems , the lower house is the more powerful house while the upper house is merely a chamber of advice or review .
However , in presidential systems , the powers of the two houses are often similar or equal . In federations it is typical for the upper house to represent the component states ; the same applies to the supranational legislature of the European Union . For this purpose the upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments or be elected according to a formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations , as is the case in Austria and the modern United States .
In general , the legislature has a ____________________ role over the actions of the executive , and may replace the Head of Government and / or individual ministers by a vote of ( no ) confidence or a procedure of ____________________ . On the other hand , it may be dissolved by the Head of State , leading to new elections .