Around 40 per cent of parliaments worldwide are bicameral. Second chambers can be found on every continent, in parliamentary and presidential systems of government, in federal and unitary states, in democracies and autocracies: examples include the British House of Lords, the French Senate, the German Bundesrat, the senates in Latin America and the USA. The question of what these second chambers do for the systems of which they are a part is sometimes debated, and sometimes their existence is even questioned. Despite the importance of these debates, second chambers have rarely been at the centre of political science research. The IParl aims to contribute to this discussion with a research project on representation in European second chambers.
The project aims to determine how second chambers perform representation with regard to four aspects: (1) who are their members and how do they conceive of their representational tasks, (2) how is representation expressed in speeches, (3) how is it realised in policy-making and (4) how do the represented perceive their relationship with the members of second chambers. The first phase - focussing on Germany, France, Ireland and Poland - is nearing completion.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Calixte Bloquet and/or Franziska Carstensen.
The following articles have been published to date as part of this project.
Calixte Bloquet / Franziska Carstensen: Members of the German Bundesrat: (How/Who/From Where) Do they represent?, in: European Centre for Research on Federalism (ed.): ahrbuch des Föderalismus 2024, Baden-Baden 2024.Link)
Schüttemeyer, Suzanne S. / Sturm, Roland: Was leisten Zweite Kammern für die repräsentative Demokratie?, in: European Centre for Research on Federalism (ed.): Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2022, Baden-Baden 2022.Link)
Carstensen, Franziska: 2022: Zweite Kammern in Europa: Wen oder was sollen sie repräsentieren?, IParl-Blickpunkt 6, Berlin 2021 (Link)
Bicameral parliamentary structures exist in around half of all European states. Although decisions made by second chambers can have a significant impact on the political process, they are not often at the centre of public attention. In particular, little is known about how representation in second chambers is pre-structured by legal requirements. This Focus on Europe addresses this gap and asks how representation in second chambers is standardised under constitutional law, which modes of appointment exist, but also which minimum age requirements, mandate durations, personnel sizes and partial renewal options are provided for through (in)direct elections. Another point of interest is whether European second chambers are equipped with specialised representation for certain population groups in order to mitigate the representation deficits of the first chambers. To summarise, an initial picture of European second chambers can be drawn that does not meet all the expectations of the research.
The results of the first phase were presented at the following conferences and events, among others:
2024: 3rd Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies in Prague, 10 June 2024.
2024: Workshop of the DVPW Thematic Group on Federalism, 1-2 March 2024 in Berlin.
2023: 8th Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on Parliaments in Vienna, 6-8 July 2023.
2023: First Austrian Day of Parliamentary Research in Vienna on 26 June 2023.
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