John Dingall - Democrat, wants to abolish the entire Senate

[Jumi]

Dont even parliaments have something like the House of Commons and House of Lords? Unless I'm wrong I've always figured that would be the equivalent of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

We don't have those in unicameralism, we have just one house and multiple parties.

 

[Jumi]

The Senate is part of Congress not separate from it. It is the upper house of the legislation branch while the House is the lower house of that same branch.

I know the system, but haven't needed to know how it works.

Where are you from?

A lot of parliaments have an upper and lower houses. In the UK there is the commons and lords. In Canada there is the Senate which is the upper house while MPs are in the lower. Having two houses in parliament in a common feature.

Finland, same thing works in all my neighboring countries, except Russia which has a bicameral parliament.

Bicameral parliaments in blue, unicemeral in orange.

 

[Augustus]

Well, there's England before the royal family became a figurehead, the USSR, and ancient Egypt*, to name a few.
*Practically all ancient civilizations, now that I think about it.

Ancient civilisations were highly decentralised. Before modern transport and communication tech, much of ruling had to be delegated to those in charge of regions and localities.

Even when there were edicts from the Emperor/King/etc. regional governors often ignored them because they tended to have their own army and/or enough local power to be able to assert a degree of independence.

 

[Shad]

I know the system, but haven't needed to know how it works.

If you knew the system you wouldn't have made said mistake.

Finland, same thing works in all my neighboring countries, except Russia which has a bicameral parliament.

Bicameral parliaments in blue, unicemeral in orange.

Which supports my point. Remember I didn't challenge the claim that democracy vanishes. I said two Houses was more common.

 

[columbus]

The Senate is part of Congress not separate from it. It is the upper house of the legislation branch while the House is the lower house of that same branch.

Quite possibly, @Jumi was confused by the common parlance. We often refer to The House of Representatives as "Congress", distinguishing it from the Senate.

That isn't accurate terminology, but if I said "Congress might vote to impeach Trump, but the Senate will block it" you would understand what I mean.
I think.
Tom

 

[Shad]

Quite possibly, @Jumi was confused by the common parlance. We often refer to The House of Representatives as "Congress", distinguishing it from the Senate.

That isn't accurate terminology, but if I said "Congress might vote to impeach Trump, but the Senate will block it" you would understand what I mean.
I think.
Tom

I would still correct you with relevant information.

 

[columbus]

I would still correct you with relevant information.

Particularly likely when you prefer to dodge an inconvenient truth by talking about the words.
Tom

 

[Shad]

Particularly likely when you prefer to dodge an inconvenient truth by talking about the words.
Tom

I dodged nothing. A person made an error and I corrected it. I never challenged the claim democracy vanishes if contained to a single legislative house.

 

[Jumi]

If you knew the system you wouldn't have made said mistake.

So you're saying a senator equals a congressman for all practical purposes or am I misunderstanding you?

I said two Houses was more common.

Yes, and I still have no idea why, if not for historical reasons (the British Empire)

 

[Shad]

So you're saying a senator equals a congressman for all practical purposes or am I misunderstanding you?

A senator is a congressman as the Senate is part of Congress. A member of the House of Representatives likewise is a Congressman too.

Yes, and I still have no idea why, if not for historical reasons (the British Empire)

As the UK still has nobility thus a major holdover in it's government. Historical and tradition.

 

[Jumi]

A senator is a congressman as the Senate is part of Congress. A member of the House of Representatives likewise is a Congressman too.

All right, so there's actually no difference aside from how they're voted in. Did not know that. Senate blocking something is actually just the balance of congress+senate tilting the way it does because of folks in the senate. I did learn something new.

As the UK still has nobility thus a major holdover in it's government. Historical and tradition.

We used to have noblemen, bourgeoisie and clergy traditionally after Christians took over with peasants having not much to say about what they advised the king about or decided. It was good that it was done away with, like many other obsolete traditions.

 

[Shad]

All right, so there's actually no difference aside from how they're voted in.

The voting is the same as in majority wins. The difference is Senators represent a whole state while a Representative of the House represents a district within a state. Districts change as populations increase/decrease as the House is a population based representation. So Cali will only have two Senators but has increased the number of it's representatives, thus districts. as it's population increased.

Did not know that. Senate blocking something is actually just the balance of congress+senate tilting the way it does because of folks in the senate. I did learn something new.

It was design as a balance and check. This does not mean the current members practice this as the parties have been bloc voting for years.

We used to have noblemen, bourgeoisie and clergy traditionally after Christians took over with peasants having not much to say about what they advised the king about or decided. It was good that it was done away with, like many other obsolete traditions.

I am still waiting for Canada to do away with having the Queen part of the government. Some traditions are slow in dying.