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The Upper Chamber in New Zealand

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The Upper Chamber in New Zealand 日本ニュ ージーラ ン ド学会誌 第 24 巻 (研究報告) The Upper Chamber in New Zealand Nobuaki Suyama Teikyo Heisei University Introduction New Zealand's Parliament has only one legislative house, thereby making it unicameral. To form a government, the main political parties aim to win a majority of seats in Parliament alone or in coalition with the others in regularly held elections because responsible government is accountable to Parliament. The fact remains that New Zealand had an almost century-long bicameral legislative history with both the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly functioning between 1853 and 1950. The Legislative Council was the first legislature of the country, established in 1941. New Zealand shed its bicameralism in 1950 by abolishing the appointive upper chamber. Worldwide, unicameralism is almost as common as bicameralism. However, economically advanced major countries are with no exception bicameral, as shown in Table t . All members of the nine lower houses and five upper houses (Australia, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States) are popularly elected. All Canadian senators are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime M inister1. The vast size of over 700 members being its key feature, the evolutionarily constituted British upper chamber is a hodgepodge of clergypersons, life peers, and hereditary peers. In democracies, the unelected members are placed on a weak footing to override the decisions made in the popularly elected house. Table t Two Legislative Houses in Major Countries Lower House Upper House Australia House of Representatives Senate Canada House of Commons Senate France National Assembly Senate Germany Bundestag Bundesrat Italy Chamber of Deputies Senate Japan House of Representatives House of Councillors Russia State Duma Federation Council The United Kingdom House of Commons House of Lords The United States House of Representatives Senate The German Bundesrat is unique in that it is not really made of individual politicians as such. The total voting numbers of 69 are apportioned to t 6 Bundeslander on the basis of their relative -16- population sizes. Large Bundeslander such as Bavaria and North Rhine Westphalia have six while small ones such as Bremen and Saarland have three. These weighed voting rights are exercised by each Bundeslander government. It is normally the head minister or one of the cabinet ministers that physically shows up in the Bundesrat and casts block votes of designated numbers. Though not elected, the Bundesrat effectively serves to the Bundeslander's interests. In the case of Russia, Federation Council members are chosen by the regional elites of each unit constituting the Federation2. It is not as effective as the Bundesrat in providing regional voices a place in the central arena. This article aims to discuss the now defunct Legislative Council of New Zealand. Why was it that this upper chamber was installed in the first place? Then, why did New Zealand do away with its upper house, an institution that is still dominant in the various countries? Finally, is there any justifiable reason for restoring it back now? Unicameralism into Bicameralism Whereas unicameralism is more the norm in the world at large3, more than half of liberal democracies are bicameral4. Among 35 0ECD countries, for example, 16 are unicameral. Although unicameralism and bicameralism are not lopsided in number, all large powers are bicameral. The largest unicameral countries in population are Turkey (circa 80 million) and Korea (circa 50 million)5. Spain, Mexico and Poland changed their erstwhile unicameralism into bicameralism. The Spanish Senate existed for 86 years from 1837 to t923. In 1923, the dictator, General M iguel Primo do Rivera quashed it and it was in the peaceful transition to democracy following the death of another dictator, General Francisco Franco in 1975 that Spain revived the Senate in 1977. The present M exican Senate dates back to t874. Given its federal structure, it is hard to imagine a unicameral M exico. Poland's Senate has a long tradition and its national history can be traced back over 500 years. In fact, Poland had one of the earliest bicameral legislative bodies in Europe. However, the Polish state itself was dismembered by its powerful neighbours Prussia, Austria, and Russia in 1795. In the newly established Poland after World War I, the Senate was re-established although this time its operation was forced into recess by the Nazis invading the country in 1939. After World War II, the Senate was abolished officially by the Communist regime in 1946. In 1989, towards the end of Communist rule, the Senate was revived to put Poland back into bicameralism. Talking of their old historical episodes, even France and Germany toyed with unicameralism in some short periods of time. During the Second Republic (1848-1851), France was briefly unicameral. Hitler came to power in 1933 by a democratic means and abolished the Relchstrat6 while ending the Weimar Republic as a whole. The current Bundesrat was a creature of the Federal Republic of Germany on the principle of federalism after World War II7. The pros and cons of unicameralism are easily pointed out as follows: PROS: Expenditure cut in human resources and elections No delay caused by the disagreements and discrepancies between the two houses -17- The absence of a docile (1. e redundant) or unruly (1.e dangerous) second chamber CONS: No safeguards for profound rethinking of legislation The lack of insurance when a first chamber is in a state of disarray Table2 Unicameral Polities among 35 OECD Countries Country Year of Conversion Country Year of Conversion Denmark 1953 Latvia ever Estonia 1940 Luxembourg ever Finland ever New Zealand 1951 Greece 1935 Norway 2009 Hungary 1945 Portugal 1974 Iceland 1991 Slovakia ever Israel ever Sweden 1970 Korea, Republic of 1961 Turkey 1980 Bicameralism into Unicameralism In the other direction, Greece, now unicameral, was bicameral unfil l935. The last Greek Senate came to an end with the demise of the Second Hellenic Republic. The case of Estonia needs a detailed explanation due to its unsteady national identities. 0nce upon a time, Estonia was a Swedish colony, then gradually taken into the Russian sphere. It was in 1918 that they declared independence, taking advantage of the political instability during the Russian proletariat revolution. They came to have their own parliament in 1919. In 1938, this national assembly was divided into two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies and thLe National Council. Both chambers were disbanded due to Estonia's annexation into the Soviet Union in 1940. While Estonia constituted a republic of thLe Soviet Union, rigged elections were held only for the unicameral Supreme Soviet. In the year after regaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia held a genuine election for thLeir unicameral Parliament after a long hiatus. Hungary provides another example. 0n a nominally equal standing Hungary and Austria constituted the Hapsburg Empire until World War 1. After the First World War, Hungary dissolved its political union withL Austria. Hungary had its own upper chamber, the House of Magnates, from 1867 to t918 in the two-nation, Austro-Hungarian Empire and again from 1927 to t945 as Kingdom of Hungary. Throughout the post-war period, Republic of Hungary has remained unicameral. In contrast to the above-mentioned rathLer unstable polities, New Zealand, Denmark, and Sweden are materialistically affluent, well-established democracies8. These countries are all constitutional monarchies, in which the royal head of thLe state plays only a ceremonial role. It is notable that thLey all adopted unicameralism by a peaceful means at a relatively early state after the Second World War. The other Nordic countries which can be placed in this group are Iceland and Norway although they fumed unicameral rather late9. -18- South Korea's example is rather shambolic with respect of its upper chamber. It underwent the wild April revolution in April 1960 and as a result radically changed its political system established in the first republic. The eight-month-long second republic (1960-1961) worked under a parliamentary system. This was the only period in which South Korea had a cabinet system instead of a presidential system. The bicameral legislature was set up with the House of Commons as a lower house and the Senate as an upper house. The upper chamber did not live survive the end of thLe second republic. Portugal's abolition of the upper chamber has a lot to do with its political revolution in 1974. A bloodless, left-wing military coup d'etat known as the Carnation Revolution ended a 48-year-long dictatorial regime. Considered to be a reactionary institution, in which vested societal interested were harboured, the Senate was put away with some other vestiges. Portugal lost many long-standing colonies in Africa in the following year, sending so many white Portuguese settlers back to Portugal. The Portuguese Senate became a legacy of the past in such a great moment of change. Turkey, which sits on the doorstep of Europe, began its modem legislative history as unicameral in 1920. In the post-war era, a multi-party system overtook a single-party rule. Then, bicameralism was established in the 1961 Constitution with the National Assembly as a lower house and the Senate as an upper house. A nearly 20-year-old bicameralism was replaced with the present unicameral Grand National Assembly in 1980. Turkey's changes have also been linked with its political turmoil and sudden upheavals, rather than as the product of deep, sound deliberation. The right-left axis of the political ideology has little to do with unicameralism. For example, the left-wing New Democratic Party of Canada has been a staunch advocate for abolishing the Senate. Their rationale behind their opposition is that the Senate is an utterly undemocratic institution whose appointed members can stay in their seats until 75 years of age1o.
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