The legislature: functions, unicameral and bicameral systems, legislative process, budget and committees

1. Meaning

The legislature is the organ of government that makes law. Because in a democracy it is the elected body, it also represents the people, controls the executive and votes the money without which government cannot act. Laski called it the organ which expresses the will of the state; Gilchrist noted that the legislature lays down the policy which the executive carries out. Its names vary: Parliament (UK, India), Congress (USA), the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), the Diet (Japan).

2. Functions

1. Legislative: making, amending and repealing laws. In parliamentary systems most bills come from the government; in the USA all bills are introduced by members of Congress.
2. Financial: no tax may be levied and no money spent without its sanction. The principle goes back to the Bill of Rights 1689 (“no taxation without representation”); in India Articles 265 and 266.
3. Control of the executive: through questions, debates, adjournment motions, calling-attention notices, committees and, in parliamentary systems, the vote of no confidence. In the USA control is through committees, confirmation of appointments by the Senate and the power of impeachment.
4. Deliberative: discussion of public policy, which informs and educates opinion. Mill thought this the proper function of a representative assembly: to be the nation's “Committee of Grievances” and its “Congress of Opinions”.
5. Constituent: amending the constitution (Article 368 in India; proposing amendments under Article V in the USA).
6. Electoral: electing officials. Indian MPs and MLAs elect the President; MPs elect the Vice-President; the Swiss Federal Assembly elects the Federal Council and the federal judges.
7. Judicial: impeachment of the President and removal of judges; the House of Lords was the highest court of the UK until 2009.
8. Representative and grievance-ventilating: it brings the needs of constituencies before government.

Writers since Bryce have spoken of the decline of legislatures: the rise of disciplined parties, cabinet dominance, delegated legislation and the technical nature of modern law have shifted real initiative to the executive.

3. Unicameral and bicameral legislatures

A unicameral legislature has one House: Israel, Denmark (since 1953), Sweden (since 1971), New Zealand (since its upper house was abolished in 1951), China, and most Indian States. A bicameral legislature has two Houses: the UK (Commons and Lords), the USA (House of Representatives and Senate), Switzerland (National Council and Council of States), France (National Assembly and Senate), India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha). Six Indian States have Legislative Councils: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Arguments for a second chamber:

• It checks hasty and ill-considered legislation by the popular House (Lecky, Bryce).
• It lightens the load of the first House by initiating non-controversial bills and revising others.
• It is essential in a federation, to represent the units (US Senate, Swiss Council of States).
• It can bring in experience and expertise that elections may not supply: nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, life peers in the Lords.
• It gives time for public opinion to form on a measure.
• It checks the tyranny of a temporary majority and protects minorities.

Arguments against:

• Abbé Sieyès: “If a second chamber dissents from the first, it is mischievous; if it agrees, it is superfluous.” The will of the people is one and should be expressed by one House.
• Laski thought second chambers conservative bodies that obstruct progressive change, and noted that no satisfactory method of composing one had been found: if hereditary, it is undemocratic; if nominated, a tool of the government; if elected in the same way, a duplicate.
• It causes delay, deadlock and expense.
• Revision can be done by committees of a single House.

The balance of opinion is that bicameralism is necessary in a federation and useful in a large country, provided the second chamber is subordinate to the popular one in finance and in making and unmaking governments. That is the position in Britain (Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949) and in India (Article 109 on money bills; Article 75(3) makes the Council of Ministers responsible to the Lok Sabha only). The US Senate is the exception: it is at least the equal of the House and in treaties and appointments more powerful.

4. The legislative process

Using India and Britain as the model of an ordinary bill:

1. Introduction and first reading: leave to introduce; the bill is published.
2. Second reading: debate on the principles. The bill may be referred to a select committee, a joint committee or (in India) the departmentally related standing committee.
3. Committee stage: clause-by-clause scrutiny and amendments; report to the House.
4. Consideration and third reading: the House adopts the bill as amended; at third reading only verbal changes are made.
5. The other House goes through the same stages. If the Houses disagree, India uses a joint sitting (Article 108); Britain applies the Parliament Acts; the US uses a conference committee.
6. Assent of the head of state (Article 111 in India; royal assent in Britain). The US President may veto, and Congress may override the veto by two-thirds in each House.

5. The normal budgetary procedure: a special note

The budget is the annual statement of estimated receipts and expenditure. In India it is the “annual financial statement” under Article 112. The stages are:

1. Presentation by the Finance Minister in the Lok Sabha, with the budget speech; since 2017 presented on 1 February, with the railway budget merged into it.
2. General discussion on the budget as a whole in both Houses; no vote is taken.
3. Scrutiny by departmentally related standing committees of the demands of their ministries.
4. Voting on demands for grants (Article 113), in the Lok Sabha only. Members may move cut motions: a policy cut (reduce the demand to Re 1, signifying disapproval of policy), an economy cut (reduce by a specified amount) and a token cut (reduce by Rs 100, to ventilate a grievance). Demands not discussed when time runs out are put to vote together by the guillotine. Expenditure “charged” on the Consolidated Fund, such as the salaries of judges and the President, is not voted on.
5. The Appropriation Bill (Article 114) authorises withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund.
6. The Finance Bill gives effect to the tax proposals.

Both are money bills; the Rajya Sabha can only recommend changes within fourteen days (Article 109). A vote on account (Article 116) lets the government spend for part of the year before the budget is passed. In Britain the budget follows a similar pattern under the control of the Commons. In the USA the President submits a budget, but Congress, assisted by the Congressional Budget Office (set up by the Budget and Impoundment Control Act 1974), writes its own appropriation bills, and disagreement with the President can lead to a government shutdown.

6. Committees

Committees are needed because the House cannot examine everything in detail. Woodrow Wilson wrote (Congressional Government, 1885) that “Congress in its committee-rooms is Congress at work.” American committees are the most powerful: standing committees of each House control bills in their field and hold hearings. British select committees, reorganised in 1979 to shadow government departments, scrutinise policy. The main Indian committees are:

By convention the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee is from the Opposition. Other committees include the Business Advisory Committee, the Committee on Privileges and the Committee on Subordinate Legislation.

How this is examined

“Give the meaning of legislature and discuss its functions” (June 2025, 16 marks) and “What is legislature? Explain its functions” (January 2026, 10 marks) need the eight functions with examples and a closing paragraph on the decline of legislatures. The 6-mark question on unicameral and bicameral legislatures wants the arguments for and against, Sieyès and Laski by name, and examples of each kind. Bring in the budget and committees where the question says “role” or “working”.