List of abolished upper houses
This is a list of abolished upper houses of bicameral legislatures and parliaments at national and lower levels of government. The reasons for abolition include removal of unelected houses, under-representation of ethnic/religious minorities[citation needed], under-representation of women,[citation needed] cost-cutting in government expenditure, longer and unlimited terms in office (leading to accusations of monarchism), and to speed up the process of legislation due to upper house scrutiny.
Australia
Queensland
The
The appointed membership, along with the Council's opposition to many of the reform measures of the Ryan Labor Government which was elected in 1915, resulted in the government formulating a policy to abolish the Council, a proposal continually rejected by Council Members, and defeated in a 1917 referendum.
After the Labor Government of Ted Theodore had Acting Governor William Lennon appoint 14 Labor Members to the Council, giving the Government a majority in the Upper House, the Legislative Council sat for the last time on 27 October 1921, the day after it voted itself out of existence.
All other Australian states continue to have a bicameral system.
Canada
Provincial-level
Some
Denmark
The Landstinget was the upper house of the legislature of Denmark from 1849 until 1953. It was abolished in the 1953 referendum when the new constitution was approved.
Estonia
According to the
India
State-level
The
New Zealand
The (appointed) New Zealand Legislative Council was abolished in 1951.
Sweden
The Första kammaren was the upper house of the legislature of Sweden from 1866 to 1970 until an amendment was made to the 1809 Instrument of Government in the 1970 general election.
United States
State-level
Other countries
In October 2013, a constitutional referendum in the Republic of Ireland proposed the establishment a unicameral system by abolishing Seanad Éireann, the upper house of parliament.[6][7] The proposal was narrowly rejected by a margin of 51.7% against vs. 48.3% in favour.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "Newfoundland Act - Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada".
- ^ House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, Audrey O’Brien and Marc Bosc, 2009
- ^ Justice in The Baltic at Time magazine on Monday, August 19, 1940
- ^ The legislative bodies of the Republic of Estonia (in Estonian)
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council History". National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
- ^ Burke Kennedy, Eoin (5 June 2013). "Government publishes Seanad abolition referendum details". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ "Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013". Bills 1992–2013. Oireachtas. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ McGee, Harry; Carroll, Steven (5 October 2013). "Seanad to be retained after Government loses referendum". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 October 2013.