The Transition from Bicameral to Unicameral Parliament: Learning from the Experience of Western Democracies
The Transition from Bicameral to Unicameral Parliament: Learning from the Experience of Western Democracies

Summary/Abstract: The institution of Parliament is the center of a very recent debate in Romanian political life: bicameralism or unicameralism? The Romanian bicameral system is founded on the necessity of ensuring a balance in the exercise of the parliamentary functions, by the requirement to debate thoroughly the laws adopted and to temper the authoritarian or extremist tendencies of a Chamber. The issue of transition from bicameral to unicameral Parliament was held up together with the referendum from November 22nd 2009, when Romanians pronounced themselves upon the problem of reducing the number of congressmen. But in order to settle a unicameral Parliament it is needed, for the modification of the Constitution, another popular consultation and, of course, learning from the experience of Western democracies.

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