Report on Second Chambers in Europe – Parliamentary complexity or democratic necessity?

This report looks at the situation regarding second chambers in national legislatures in Europe in 2006. It was written after the Forum of World Senates identified four primary functions for second chambers in 2000, and at a time when several European second chambers were undergoing reform. The repot starts by summarizing the size, method of selection, term of office, and minimum age for the second chambers in Europe. It then canvasses the functions and powers of these second chambers, dividing the sample into states with equal versus unequal bicameralism. It then looks at the power of oversight over the government (i.e. the power to dismiss governments), and other specific powers that may be assigned to the second chamber, i.e. the power of the president/speaker of the second chamber to act as interim head of state. The last part of the paper, sets out the issues and future prospects of them. It looks at the rationale for having a second chamber, particularly in federal and highly decentralized states, it looks at their cost, their added value in small countries, and the importance or impact of the method of selection of members for the second chambers.