Multicameralism

In contrast to unicameralism, and bicameralism, multicameralism is the condition in which a legislature is divided into more than two deliberative assemblies, which are commonly called "chambers" or "houses". This usually includes tricameralism with three chambers, but can also describe a system with any amount more. The word "multicameral" can also relate in other ways to its literal meaning of "many chambered" with use in science or biology.

Prevalence

Approximately half of the world's sovereign states are unicameral. Nevertheless, many current parliaments and congresses have more than one chambers (usually bicameral), which some claim provides multiple perspectives and a form of separation of powers within the government.

History

Many societies in medieval Europe had quasi-legislative assemblies in the form of the Estates of the Realm, typified by those of France. Typically, this body had three chambers representing the three grand divisions of society; the clergy, nobles, and commoners; however, this was not universally the rule; Medieval Scandinavian deliberative assemblies traditionally had four estates: the nobility, the clergy, the burghers, and the peasants. The Swedish and Finnish Riksdag of the Estates survived the longest of these bodies, having four separate legislative houses. Sweden abandoned its four-chamber parliament in 1866, transitioning to a bicameral Riksdag for more than a century before moving to today's unicameral assembly in 1974 (see History of the Riksdag).

When the Grand Duchy of Finland was seized by Russia from Sweden, the four-chambered Diet of Finland, of identical structure to the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates, was established.