Swiss Parliament When I was in Switzerland, I had the opportunity to visit the national Parliament and see their second chamber. Having a bicameral legislature is one of the few features of the constitutional system that Switzerland has in common with the UK. Otherwise, we are at different ends of the constitutional spectrum. Switzerland, as I…
I have spent the past few days in Switzerland advising members of the Iraqi Constitutional Review Committee on the establishment of a second chamber. Agreement has been reached on creating a second chamber. The committee has responsibility for recommending the form it take. My role has essentially been twofold. One has been to explain the…
Second chambers are remarkable for a number of reasons. Most countries don’t have one, though they are common in federal states and Western nations. Though a minority taste, and often controversial, they can serve useful purposes and a number of developing countries and new democracies have established, or are considering establishing, them. The proposal for…
In a previous post, I argued the value of undertaking comparative analysis. Yesterday I chaired a seminar at the Lords addressed by Keizo Takemi, who has served as a Government Minister in Japan and was a member of the country’s elected second chamber, the House of Councillors, from 1995 to 2007. Though he argued that election increases legitimacy,…
