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, under-representation of women, 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

The Legislative Council of Queensland was the upper house of the Parliament of Queensland and was entirely appointed by the Governor of Queensland. The Labor Government of Ted Theodore made the necessary appointments, and on 27 October 1921, the Legislative Council voted itself out of existence. All other Australian states continue to have bicameral systems.

Canada

Provincial-level

Some Canadian provinces once possessed upper houses, but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems. Newfoundland had a Legislative Council prior to joining Canada, as did Ontario when it was Upper Canada. Newfoundland has the power to re-establish its upper house, the Legislative Council, pursuant to Term 14 (2) of the Terms of Union.^[1] Manitoba had an upper chamber until it was abolished in 1876, New Brunswick's upper chamber was abolished in 1892, Prince Edward Island's upper chamber was abolished in 1893, Nova Scotia's upper chamber was abolished in 1928 and Québec's upper chamber was abolished in 1968.^[2]

Estonia

According to the 1938 Constitution, the Riigikogu had two chambers, which replaced the unicameral system. The lower chamber was called Riigivolikogu and the upper chamber was named Riiginõukogu. Both chambers were disbanded in 1940, following the Soviet occupation, and rigged^[3] elections for only the lower chamber Riigivolikogu were held. According to the 1992 Constitution of Estonia, the parliament is once again unicameral.^[4]

India

The Vidhan Parishad or Legislative Council is the upper house of the state legislature in India. The states of West Bengal, Punjab and Tamil Nadu abolished the Vidhan Parishad in their legislatures. The Vidhan Parishad of Andhra Pradesh was abolished in 1985 but revived again in 2006.^[5]

New Zealand

The (appointed) New Zealand Legislative Council was abolished in 1951.

United States

State-level

Nebraska is the only state in the United States to have a unicameral legislature, which it achieved when it abolished its lower house in 1934. During the governorship of Jesse Ventura in Minnesota, he called for the state to have a unicameral legislature.

Other countries

Croatia (2001), Denmark (1953), Egypt (2013), Greece (1935), Hungary, South Korea (1960), Peru (1992), Portugal (1976), Sweden (1970), Turkey (1980) and Venezuela (1999) once possessed upper houses but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems.

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]

References

1. http://www.exec.gov.nl.ca/royalcomm/resources/nf_act.htm
2. House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, Audrey O’Brien and Marc Bosc, 2009
3. Justice in The Baltic at Time magazine on Monday, August 19, 1940
4. The legislative bodies of the Republic of Estonia
5. "Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council History". National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
6. Burke Kennedy, Eoin (5 June 2013). "Government publishes Seanad abolition referendum details". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
7. "Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013". Bills 1992–2013. Oireachtas. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
8. McGee, Harry; Carroll, Steven (5 October 2013). "Seanad to be retained after Government loses referendum". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 October 2013.