Legislature

A legislature (UK: /ˈlɛdʒɪslətʃər/, US: /-sleɪtʃər/)[1][2] is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein.

Countries differ as to what extent they grant deliberative assemblies at the subnational law-making power, as opposed to purely administrative responsibilities.

In addition, legislatures may observe and steer governing actions, with authority to amend the budget involved.

By languages: Though the specific roles for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve the same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate legislation for the country.

[3] In the Middle Ages, European monarchs would host assemblies of the nobility, which would later develop into predecessors of modern legislatures.

[4] Democratic legislatures have six major functions: representation, deliberation, legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight.

[3] In contrast, in committee-based legislatures like the United States Congress, deliberation takes place in closed committees.

[5] The origins of the power of the purse which legislatures typically have in passing or denying government budgets goes back to the European assemblies of nobility which the monarchs would have to consult before raising taxes.

[7] In contrast to democratic systems, legislatures under authoritarianism are used to ensure the stability of the power structure by co-opting potential competing interests within the elites, which they achieve by:[8] Each chamber of the legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation.

Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are usually delegated to committees made up of a few of the members of the chamber(s).

The German Bundestag, the Italian Parliament, and the Mongolian State Great Khural tied for most powerful, while Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's Transitional Federal Assembly (since replaced by the Federal Parliament of Somalia) tied for least powerful.

On the other hand, according to the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature in a presidential system is considered an independent and coequal branch of government along with both the judiciary and the executive.