Bicameralism

Bicameralism is a system of government in which the legislature has two chambers. The chambers may differ in membership, powers, or methods of representation.

Legislature: A deliberative body with authority to make laws for a political community. Bicameralism is one way to organize a legislature.
Upper house: The chamber commonly assigned a reviewing or territorially representative role in a bicameral legislature. It is one of the two chambers, though its precise role varies by country.
British Parliament: The national legislature of the United Kingdom, composed of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Its two-house structure became a prominent model for later legislatures.
Unicameral legislature: A legislature whose lawmaking body consists of a single chamber. It contrasts directly with a legislature divided into two chambers.
Legislative procedure: The formal steps by which a legislature debates, amends, and passes measures. Separate chambers usually consider legislation in sequence, with rules for resolving differences.
Lower house: The chamber commonly designed for direct representation of the population in a bicameral legislature. Its membership often reflects population more closely than the other chamber.
House of Lords: The upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its hereditary and appointed membership illustrates a historically distinct chamber.
Tricameralism: A system in which the legislature is divided into three chambers. It extends chamber-based division beyond the two-house arrangement.
Conference committee: A temporary legislative committee that negotiates a single version of a bill between chambers. Some bicameral legislatures use committees to reconcile competing chamber texts.
Federalism: A system of government that divides authority between a central government and constituent political units. Federal systems often use a chamber to represent constituent units.

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