Lower house

Legislature
Chambers
Unicameralism Multicameralism Bicameralism Tricameralism Tetracameralism Upper house (Senate) Lower house
Parliament
Parliamentary system Parliamentary group Member of parliament International parliament
Parliamentary procedure
Committee Quorum Motion (no-confidence)
Types
Congress (Member of Congress) City council (Councillor) The Estates
Legislatures by country

A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.^[1]

Inside the Australian House of Representatives

Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power.

A legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral .

Common attributes

In comparison with the upper house, lower houses frequently display certain characteristics:

In a parliamentary system:
- Much more power, usually based on restrictions against the upper house.
- Able to override the upper house in some ways.
- Can vote a motion of no confidence against the government.
- Exceptions are Australia, where the Senate has considerable power approximate to that of the House of Representatives, and Italy, where the Senate has exactly the same powers as the Chamber of Deputies.
In a presidential system:
- Somewhat less power, as the upper house alone gives advice and consent to some executives decisions (e.g. appointments).
- Given the sole power to impeach the executive (the upper house then tries the impeachment)

Always elected directly, while the upper house may be elected directly, indirectly, or not elected at all.
Its members may be elected with a different voting system to the upper house.
Most populated administrative divisions are better represented than in the upper house; representation is usually proportional to population.
Elected more frequently.
Elected all at once, not by staggered terms.
In a parliamentary system, can be dissolved by the executive.
More members.
Has total or original control over budget and monetary laws.
Lower age of candidacy than the upper house.

Dáil Éireann, Republic of Ireland

Many lower houses are named in the following manner: House/Chamber of Representatives/the People/Commons/Deputies.

↑ Bicameralism (1997) by George Tsebelis
↑ "http://www.pyithuhluttaw.gov.mm/". www.pyithuhluttaw.gov.mm. Retrieved 2016-03-02. External link in |title= (help)

Lower houses of national legislatures

Federal	Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Canada Ethiopia Germany India Malaysia Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Russia Somalia South Sudan Sudan Switzerland United States

Unitary	Afghanistan Algeria Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Bahrain Barbados Belarus Belize Bhutan Bolivia Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Central African Republic Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Czech Republic Dominican Republic Equatorial Guinea France Gabon Grenada Haiti Indonesia Ireland Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Mauritania Morocco Myanmar Namibia Netherlands Oman Palau Paraguay Philippines Poland Romania Rwanda Saint Lucia Slovenia South Africa Spain Swaziland Tajikistan Trinidad and Tobago United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Zimbabwe

Dependent and other territories	American Samoa Bermuda Isle of Man Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico

Non-UN states	Somaliland

Related	Bicameralism Unicameralism List of legislatures by country

National upper houses National bicameral legislatures National unicameral legislatures

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