Classes with News18: What civics textbooks say about parliaments around the world

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Almost every country has some form of parliament and its systems fall into two categories – bicameral and unicameral. Out of the total countries in the world, 79 have a bicameral parliamentary system while 113 are unicameral. There are a total of 272 chambers of parliament with over 46,000 members of parliament worldwide. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organization of national parliaments, has 178 national parliaments as its members.

What is Parliament?

Parliament is a national assembly of elected representatives of the people of the states in a country. It has the power to make laws which include adding new laws or changing and abolishing existing laws. The assembly of the elected representatives of the people at the state level is called the legislature or the Vidhan Sabha.

As per the NCERT Book for Class 11 Political Science Chapter 5 Parliament refers to the National Legislature. “The legislature is not the only law-making body. Law making is one of the functions of the legislature. It is the center of all democratic political process,” the chapter added.

Indian parliament

The Indian Parliament consists of the office of the President and two houses – the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. It is bicameral in nature. The Rajya Sabha or Rajya Sabha consists of 245 members and the Lok Sabha or Lok Sabha has a total of 543 members. The Speaker presides over the sessions of both the houses.

The Constitution has given the states the option to establish a unicameral or bicameral legislature. At present, six Indian states have bicameral legislatures – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Rajya Sabha

The term of office in Rajya Sabha is six years. The Vice President is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The present is M Venkaiah Naidu. The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the State Legislative Assembly for a term of six years. They can be re-elected.

Not all members of Rajya Sabha complete their term at the same time. About one third of the members complete their term every two years. That’s why elections are held on only one-third of those seats. This is the reason that the Rajya Sabha is never completely dissolved and is called the permanent house of the Parliament.

Apart from the elected members, there are 12 nominated members in the Rajya Sabha who are nominated by the President. These nominations are made from amongst those individuals who have made their mark in the field of literature, science, arts and social service.

The functions of Rajya Sabha are:

Considers and approves non-money bills and suggests amendments to money bills.

– Approval of constitutional amendments.

– Exercises control over the executive by asking questions and introducing resolutions and resolutions.

Participates in the election and removal of the President, Vice-President, Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. Moreover, it alone can initiate the process of removal of the Vice President.

– Can give power to the Union Parliament to make laws on matters included in the State List.

Lok Sabha

The members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people of India for a term of five years. However, if a party or a coalition cannot form the government or if the Prime Minister advises the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha and hold fresh elections, the Lok Sabha can be dissolved before the completion of five years.

Once the Lok Sabha has passed the budget, the Rajya Sabha cannot reject it as it is not directly elected by the people. The functions of the Lok Sabha include:

– To make laws on matters included in the Union List and the Concurrent List. Can introduce and enact money and non-money bills.

– Approves proposals for taxation, budget and annual financial statements.

– Controls the executive by asking questions, supplementary questions, resolutions and motions and no-confidence motions.

– Amends the Constitution.

– Approval of the declaration of emergency.

– Elects the President and Vice-President and removes the judges of the Supreme Court and High Court.

– Establishes committees and commissions and considers their reports.

How Indian Parliament makes laws

A bill is a draft of a proposed law. When a bill is moved by a non-minister, it is called a private member’s bill, whereas when it is moved by a minister, it is called a government bill. “Within Parliament, a Bill can be introduced in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha by a member of the House (but often the Minister responsible for the subject introduces the Bill). A Money Bill can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha. Once there After being passed, it is sent to the Rajya Sabha,” reads the NCERT.

A bill has to be passed by both the houses but in case of disagreement, an attempt is made to resolve it through a joint session of the Parliament. If it still fails to resolve, the decision goes in favor of the Lok Sabha. If it is a money bill, the Rajya Sabha can either approve the bill or suggest changes but cannot reject it. When a bill is passed by both the houses, it is sent for the assent of the President who then converts it into law.

Name of country and their parliament

Afghanistan – noise

Albania – People’s Assembly

Algeria — National People’s Assembly

Andorra – General Council

Angola — National People’s Assembly

Argentina – National Congress

Australia – Federal Parliament

Austria – National Assembly

Azerbaijan – Meli Majlis

Bahamas – General Assembly

Bahrain – Advisory Council

Bangladesh – Jatia Parliament

Belize – National Assembly

Bhutan – Sogdu

Bolivia – National Congress

Botswana – National Assembly

Brazil – National Congress

Britain – Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords)

Brunei – National Assembly

Bulgaria — Narodno Sabrani

Cambodia – National Assembly

Canada – Parliament

China – National People’s Assembly

Colombia – Congress

Comoros – Legislative Council and Senate

Democratic Republic of the Congo – National Legislative Council

Costa Rice – Legislative Council and Senate

Croatia — Sabor

Cuba – National Assembly of the People’s Power

Denmark – Folktale

East Timor – Constituent Assembly

Ecuador – National Congress

Egypt – People’s Assembly

El Salvador – Legislative Assembly

Ethiopia – Federal Council and House of Representatives

Fiji Islands — Senate and House of Representatives

Finland — Edukusta (Parliament)

France – National Assembly

Germany – Bundestag (lower house) and Bundesrat (upper house)

Great Britain – Parliament

Greece – Chamber of Deputies

Guyana – National Assembly

Hungary – National Assembly

Iceland – Althing

India – Parliament

Indonesia – People’s Consultant Assembly

Iran – Majlis

Iraq – National Assembly

Ireland — Orichtas

Israel – Knesset

Italy – Chamber of Deputies and Senate

Japan – Diet

Jordan – National Assembly

Korea (North) — Supreme People’s Assembly

Korea (South) — National Assembly

Kuwait – National Assembly

Lebanon – National Assembly

Laos – People’s Supreme Assembly

Latvia – Seima

Lesotho – National Assembly and Senate

Libya – General People’s Congress

Lithuania – Seimasi

Luxembourg — Chamber of Deputies

Madagascar — National People’s Assembly

Magnolia – Khurali

Malaysia – Majilis

Maldives – Majilis

Mongolia — Great People’s Khurala

Montenegro – Federal Assembly

Mozambique — People’s Assembly

Myanmar – Pythu Hlutawa

Nepal – National Panchayat

Netherlands – States-General

New Zealand — Parliament (House of Representatives)

Norway — Storting

Oman – Monarchy

Pakistan – National Assembly and Senate

Papua New Guinea – National Parliament

Paraguay – Senate and Chamber of Deputies

Philippines – Congress

Poland — Sejm

Romania – Great National Assembly

Russia – Duma and Federal Council

Saudi Arabia – Majlis Al-Shura

South Africa – Parliament

Spain – Cortes

Taiwan – Yuan

Turkish Grand National Assembly

USA – Congress

Uzbekistan – Oli Majlis

Vietnam – National Assembly

Zambia – National Assembly

Zimbabwe – Parliament

Let’s test our learning

The Chinese National People’s Congress has the largest parliament in China with 3,000 members, while the world’s smallest parliament is in Micronesia, with only 14 members of parliament (MPs).

US Parliament: The US Parliament or Congress was established under the Constitution of 1789. It is structurally distinct from the executive and judicial branches of government and is bicameral in nature.

Chinese Parliament: Meanwhile, as of 2018, for the Chinese Parliament, formed on October 1, 1949, it has a total of 2980 members, making it the largest in the world.

UK Parliament: The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the first parliament in the world. It was first convened in 1215 with the creation and signing of the Magna Carta, which established the rights of barons to serve as advisors to the king on matters relating to government at his Great Council. It is the supreme most powerful political body in the UK. The UK Parliament is bicameral in nature but consists of three parts, consisting of the Sovereign or Crown, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The two Houses of Parliament meet in separate chambers at the Palace of Westminster in London.

German Parliament: Germany has a bicameral legislature known as the Federal Assembly (Bundestag) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat). The former are elected by a combination of direct and proportional representation for a term of four years. Meanwhile, for the council, the 16 federal states of Germany are represented. The members are generally ministers in governments at the state level and are appointed.

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