View source for Legislative chamber

{{Short description|Assembly of representatives of a representative democracy}}
{{Distinguish|legislative assembly|debate chamber}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2013}}

[[File:Parliament at Sunset.JPG|thumb|The [[Palace of Westminster]], meeting place of the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom's]] legislative bodies.]]

{{Legislature}}
{{Politics}}

A '''legislative chamber''' or '''house''' is a [[deliberative assembly]] within a [[legislature]] which generally meets and votes separately from the legislature's other chambers.<ref>[http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/legislatures/legislative-organization-and-procedures-overview.aspx Legislative Organization & Procedures]. ''The National Conference of State Legislatures''. www.ncsl.org. Retrieved June 29, 2013.</ref> Legislatures are usually [[Unicameralism|unicameral]], consisting of only one chamber, or [[Bicameralism|bicameral]], consisting of two, but there are rare examples of [[Tricameralism|tricameral]] and [[Tetracameralism|tetracameral]] legislatures. The [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] is the only country documented as having a [[Pentacameralism|pentacameral]] (later [[Hexacameralism|hexacameral]]) legislature.

== Bicameralism ==
{{Main|Bicameralism}}

[[File:House_of_Commons_Chamber_1.png|thumb|The legislative chamber of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom Parliament's]] lower house, the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].]]

In a ''bicameral'' legislature, the two bodies are often referred to as an ''upper'' and a ''lower'' house, where the latter is often regarded as more particularly the representatives of the people. The lower house is almost always the originator of [[legislation]], and the upper house is the body that offers the "second look" and decides whether to [[veto]] or approve the [[Bill (proposed law)|bill]]s. In the [[United Kingdom]] legislation can be originated in either house, but the lower house can ultimately prevail if the two houses repeatedly disagree. In most countries the lower house also has sole or predominant control over matters to do with [[finance]] and [[taxation]].

A parliament's lower house is usually composed of at least 100 [[member of parliament|members]], in countries with populations of over 3 million.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} The number of seats rarely exceeds 400, even in very large countries. Among the  countries with large lower houses are France, where the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] has 577 members, and Japan, where the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]] has 475 members. The upper house of a parliament customarily has anywhere from 20 to 200 seats, but almost always significantly fewer than the lower house. In the United Kingdom however, the lower house (the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]) has 650 members, but the upper house (the [[House of Lords]]) currently has slightly more members than the lower house, and at one time (before the exclusion of most of the [[hereditary peer]]s) had considerably more.

==Merging of chambers==
{{Further|List of abolished upper houses}}

Until 1953, the [[Rigsdag]] in [[Denmark]] was divided into two houses, the "[[Folketing]]" and "[[Landstinget|Landsting]]", but has since become a [[unicameral]] legislature. The same goes with [[Sweden]], and its "[[Riksdag]]" until 1971. The [[Storting|Norwegian parliament]] (''Storting'') was officially divided in two chambers 1814–2009, but functioned as a single chamber in practice, a situation called [[Odelsting#Qualified unicameralism|Qualified unicameralism]].

==Floor and committee==
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The ''[[floor (legislative)|floor]]'' is the name for the full assembly, and a ''[[committee]]'' is a small deliberative assembly that is usually subordinate to the floor. In the United Kingdom, either chamber may opt to take some business such as detailed consideration of a [[Bill (law)|Bill]] on the Floor of the House instead of in Committee.<ref>UK Parliament Glossary, http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/floor-of-the-house/, accessed 1 July 2015</ref>

== Security ==
The building that houses the Chambers of a Parliament is usually equipped with an internal police<ref>Under the responsibility of the ''Usher of the black rod'', in [[Westminster]]-style Parliaments.</ref> and in some, the public force is not allowed access without authorisation.<ref>In [[Italy]] the judge could raise conflict of powers against the House asking the Constitutional Court - in accordance with decision no. 120/2014 - for access to the Palace to perform his duties: {{cite journal|last1=Buonomo|first1=Giampiero|title=Il diritto pretorio sull'autodichia, tra resistenze e desistenze|journal=Forum di Quaderni Costituzionale|date=2014|url=https://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89414234|access-date=2016-04-12|archive-date=2012-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801002834/http://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89414234|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Law|Politics}}
*[[Primary and secondary legislation|Delegated legislation]]
*[[Inter-Parliamentary Union]]
*[[Witan|Witenagemot]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Legislatures]]
[[Category:Elections]]