legislature

Lawmaking body or bodies in a political system. Some legislatures are unicameral (having one chamber), and some bicameral (with two).

In most democratic countries with bicameral legislatures the ‘lower’, or popular, chamber is the more powerful but there are exceptions, the most notable being in the USA, where the upper chamber, the Senate, is constitutionally more powerful than the lower, the House of Representatives. Most lower or single chambers are popularly elected and upper chambers are filled by appointees or a mixture of appointed and elected members. In the USA, both chambers are elected, whereas in the UK, the lower chamber, the House of Commons, is elected and the upper chamber, the House of Lords, is filled by hereditary members or appointees.