In many countries there is a legislative assembly called the Senate, it consists of senators, respectively. The latter receive their powers as a result of election, appointment, inheritance of the title or for other reasons, depending on the country. Modern senates, as a rule, serve to provide a so-called sober second thought, which means an opportunity to consider the law adopted by the lower house of parliament. What is a senate?
The concept
The Senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house of a bicameral legislature or parliament. The meaning of the word "senate" (lat. Senatus) in ancient Roman etymology means "meeting of the elders." In ancient Rome, the most wise and experienced members of a society or the ruling class performed the most important functions in the state. The word itself comes from the Latin word "senex", which means "old". The Senate is a very ancient form of social organization in which the oldest people in the tribe were engaged in consultation on various issues and decision-making.
Senate today
Modern democracies with bicameral parliamentary systems in some cases have a senate as their upper house. It often differs from the lower house, which can have different names: the House of Representatives (United States of America), the National Assembly (France) and other bodies.
Depending on the state, different requirements can be set for senators and voters. This may be the minimum age required for voters and candidates, a proportional, majority or mixed electoral system, a base of voters or an electoral college. As a rule, the senate has fewer members than the lower parliamentary board.
In federal states
In some federal states Senates also exist at the sub-federal level. In the United States of America, for example, all states, with the exception of Nebraska, whose legislature is a unicameral parliament, have their own senates. There is also the US State Senate. Similarly, in Argentina at the federal level, eight provinces of the country (Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Mendoza, Salta, San Luis and Santa Fe) have bicameral legislative parliaments with the Senate as the upper house.
In Australia and Canada, only the upper house of the federal parliament is the senate. All other states, except Queensland (in Australia), have legislative councils as the upper houses of their parliaments. Several Canadian provinces also had senates some time ago. But they were all canceled, and legislative councils were introduced in their place, the last of which was created in Quebec in 1968. In Germany, the last given authority was on the federal state of Bavaria, but was canceled after the reform of the Senate in 1999.
Senators
Membership can be obtained either through elections or through appointment. For example, elections are held every three years for half of the members of the Australian Senate with a senator's term of office of 6 years. The same procedure in the USA. In contrast, members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada and are in the exercise of their powers until they resign, are removed from their ranks, or are not required to resign at the age of 75.
What is the senate in other countries?
It is curious that not in all cases the Senate is precisely a legislative or deliberative body. The fact is that throughout history, these terms have been used to designate bodies and officials with other powers.
For example, the Senate was in Finland until 1919 and combined the roles of the main executive and judicial authorities in the state.
In the Federal Republic of Germany, there are cities with land status, which are Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg (similar to the Russian cities of federal significance Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol). The senates in them are executive bodies, and the holders of ministerial portfolios are considered senators.
In a number of cities that were former members of the Hansa (a medieval confederation of port cities, located mainly on the shores of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea), such as Greifswald, Lübeck, Rostock, Stralsund or Wismar; the senate is a city government. Nevertheless, in Bavaria, the Senate was the second legislative chamber until its abolition in 1999.
In Scotland, judges of the High Court of Justice hold the title of Senators of the College of Justice.
Senators in unicameral parliaments
In some mostly federal states with a unicameral legislature, deputies are elected in various ways, but are called senators. In such countries, senators, as a rule, represent territories that are subjects of the state, while the remaining members represent the people as a whole (this device is used to create a federal representation without the need to create a bicameral legislative body). These countries include Saint Kitts and Nevis, Comoros and Micronesia.
In other unitary states the use of the term “senator” means some differences between such members and other legislators (for example, by the method of appointment or election). This situation is characteristic of Jersey, Dominican Republic and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.