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The reason for the bicameral legislature dates back to when The Constitution was written. The New Jersey plan wanted every state to have an equal vote, which favored small states. The Virginia Plan called for representatives, with more populated states getting more representatives. In Congress, the Senate is the New Jersey Plan and the House of Representatives is, obviously, the Virginia plan. I'm not sure, but I believe we elect both.

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11y ago
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11y ago

It balances out the legislative power. During the conception of the Constitution there was a dispute among smaller states and larger states concerning legislative representation. Smaller states feared larger states would eventually overpower smaller states so they wanted equal representation for each state, while larger states supported the idea of representation proportional to a state's population. Therefore a compromise was created in which Congress would consist of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives would consist of members from each state, proportional to the population of a state, and the Senate would consist of an equal two senators from each state.

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11y ago

The purpose is to slow things down, so that ill-considered legislation doesn't pass quickly because of a sudden foolishness in one chamber. It's like requiring two signatures on a check, or the permission of both parents.

In the case of the USA congress, another purpose is to prevent the large states from simply imposing their will on the small states. The House is allocated according to population, so a few big states have a majority and can pass whatever they like. If everybody in CA, NY, TX, FL, and a few others agree on something, it doesn't matter if the rest of the country hates it, it will pass. But in the senate all states are equal, so the smaller states can fight back. Similarly if the smaller states want something but the majority of the country is against it, the House can stop it.

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10y ago

The reason it was split into two houses was that both large and small states would still have equal represntation. The senate would be equal with two senaters per state and House of Representatives would be based on population of the state.

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14y ago

Bicameral legislature means (bi) two houses of Legislatue. In India there are two houses of parliament ie, Lok sabha & Rajya sabha which have definite functions to deal with.

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10y ago

Oversight and fairness was the original intent. Sometimes you may wonder at the modern version.

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Q: What does bicameral legislature?
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