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60-494: The Cortes of Alcalá of 1348 asked that King Henry II of Castile publicly hear cases at least once or twice a week along with his advisors because, under medieval Castilian jurisprudence , the king was to personally hear all cases that fell under his jurisdiction, but the caseload was becoming too great. The Cortes also asked the King to delegate some of his powers to his advisors, so that they "could judge in his name." The documents of

120-602: A French invasion crushed the National Militia and restored absolutist rule in Spain. During the subsequent reaction, many liberals were forced into exile, many—ironically—ending up in France, but generally Ferdinand VII was less strident in his policies through the remainder of his reign. When the monarchy was overthrown in 1873, the king was forced into exile. The Senate was abolished because of its royally appointed nature. A republic

180-813: A Legislative Council prior to joining Canada , as did Ontario when it was Upper Canada and Quebec from 1791 (as Lower Canada ) to 1968. Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral legislature, having abolished its lower house in 1934, while the Senate of Nebraska , the upper house prior to 1934, continues to assemble. The Australian state of Queensland also once had an appointed Legislative Council before abolishing it in 1922. All other Australian states continue to have bicameral systems, though all members are now directly elected (the two self-governing territories, along with Norfolk Island until 2016, have always been unicameral). Like Queensland,

240-482: A former monarchist Minister wary of the authoritarianism of the right, dissolved Parliament. The next election was held in 1936. It was hotly contested, with all parties converging into three coalitions: the leftist Popular Front , the right-winged National Front  [ es ] and a Centre coalition. In the end, the Popular Front won with a small edge in votes over the runner-up National Front, but achieved

300-410: A lower house) is described as unicameral . An upper house is usually different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects (though they vary among jurisdictions): Powers: Status: In parliamentary systems the upper house is frequently seen as an advisory or a "house of review" chamber; for this reason, its powers of direct action are often reduced in some way. Some or all of

360-504: A new lower house that no longer wishes to proceed with the bill. Nevertheless, some states have long retained powerful upper houses. For example, the consent of the upper house to legislation may be necessary (though, as noted above, this seldom extends to budgetary measures). Constitutional arrangements of states with powerful upper houses usually include a means to resolve situations where the two houses are at odds with each other. In recent times, parliamentary systems have tended to weaken

420-574: A position which is known as "perfect bicameralism" or "equal bicameralism." The role of a revising chamber is to scrutinise legislation that may have been drafted over-hastily in the lower house and to suggest amendments that the lower house may nevertheless reject if it wishes to. An example is the British House of Lords . Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 , the House of Lords can no longer prevent

480-596: A solid majority due to the new electoral system introduced by the CEDA government hoping that they would get the edge in votes. The new Parliament then dismissed Alcalá-Zamora and installed Manuel Azaña in his place. During the third term, the extreme polarisation of the Spanish society was more evident than ever in Parliament, with confrontation reaching the level of death threats. The already bad political and social climate created by

540-770: A stronger role for the Cortes but was crushed by the Constable 's royalist forces at the 1521 Battle of Villalar and then brutally suppressed. Reorganized, the corteses retained some power over the realm's finances—particularly in Aragon —but became limited to a consultative entity. By the reign of Philip II , the delegates of the Cortes of Castile were financially dependent on the Crown for their income. The Imperial Cortes and its deputation ( Spanish : Diputación General de Cortes ) primarily concerned themselves with overseeing previous agreements and

600-509: A task because 208 out of 265 members of the Senate are elected by popular vote in each province, and only 58 are representatives appointed by the regional legislatures of autonomous communities. Proposals to reform the Senate have been discussed for at least ten years as of November 2007. One of the main themes of reform is to move towards a higher level of federalization and make the Senate a thorough representation of autonomous communities instead of

660-806: A world away during the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the Spanish Philippines , it found it necessary to grant its overseas oidores functions and powers which in the mother country normally fell to other officials. Thus, the oidores of the overseas audiencias functioned not only as judges of the audiencia , but also as magistrates overseeing the sale of the Holy Crusade indulgences ( juez de la Santa Cruzada ), mortgages and ground rents ( juez de censos ), probate issues ( juez de bienes de difuntos ), and legal separation ( oidor juez de casados ). In

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720-513: Is partly directly elected in that four senators per province are elected as a general rule and partly appointed by the legislative assemblies of the autonomous communities , one for each community and another one for every million inhabitants in their territory. Although the Senate was conceived as a territorial upper house, it has been argued by nationalist parties and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party that it does not accomplish such

780-640: The Canary and Balearic archipelagos forms a different constituency in the Senate. As a parliamentary system , the Cortes confirm and dismiss the Prime Minister of Spain and their government ; specifically, the candidate for Prime Minister has to be invested by the Congress with a majority of affirmative votes. The Congress can also dismiss the Prime Minister through a vote of no confidence . The Cortes also hold

840-722: The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (CEDA) ( right ). Initially, only the Radical Party entered the Government, with the parliamentary support of the CEDA. However, in the middle of the term, several corruption scandals (among them the Straperlo and the Nombela affairs) sank the Radical Party and the CEDA entered the Government in 1934. This led to uprisings by some leftist parties that were quickly suffocated. In one of them,

900-507: The German state of Bavaria had an appointed second chamber, the Senate of Bavaria , from 1946 to 1999. The Senate of the Philippines was abolished – and restored – twice: from 1935 to 1945 when a unicameral National Assembly convened, and from 1972 to 1987 when Congress was closed, and later a new constitution was approved instituting a unicameral Parliament. The Senate was re-instituted with

960-566: The Iberian peninsula 's various kingdoms came to be known as cortes ( Castilian Spanish ) or corts ( Valencian Spanish ). They began as advisory councils made up of the most powerful nobles and the feudal lords closest to the king. General councils were convened in 873, 1020, 1050, and 1063. The 1188 Cortes of León convened by Alfonso IX is sometimes taken to mark the beginning of parliamentary bodies in Western Europe because it

1020-665: The Nationalist faction , resulting in a bombing in May 1937. Francisco Franco did not prioritize the creation of a consultative or legislative type of assembly during his rule . In 1942, following the first symptoms of change in the international panorama in favour of the Allied Powers , a law established the Cortes Españolas (Spanish Cortes), a non-democratic chamber made up of more than 400 procuradores (singular procurador ). Both

1080-624: The Rajya Sabha in India are nominated by various states and union territories, while 12 of them are nominated by the President of India. Similarly, at the state level, one-third of the members of the State Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) are nominated by local governments, one-third by sitting legislators, and the rest are elected by select members of the electorate. The United States Senate

1140-601: The Reconquista , the growth of trade and an urbanized middle class ( Spanish : burguesía ) expanded their importance at the various corteses. The king retained the ability to call and dismiss the Cortes but tended to exchange fueros , further grants of privileges and autonomy, to the residents of certain cities in exchange for lump sum payments to meet military and other obligations. (Modern Navarre preserves certain rights and privileges in its current statute of autonomy directly derived from these fueros.) In some cases,

1200-581: The Senate of Canada are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In the past, some upper houses had seats that were entirely hereditary, such as in the British House of Lords until 1999 and in the Japanese House of Peers until it was abolished in 1947. It is also common that the upper house consists of delegates chosen by state governments or local officials. Members of

1260-400: The audiencias in which the criminal judges ( alcaldes del crimen ) met as a separate chamber, such as those of Mexico City and Lima , it was not uncommon for one person to serve as both oidor (civil judge) and an alcalde del crimen . Moreover, upon the death or incapacity of a governor or viceroy , either the senior oidor ( oidor decano ) or the audiencia as a whole would serve as

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1320-592: The bicameral legislative chambers of Spain , consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house ) and the Senate (the upper house ). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes . The Senate meets in the Palacio del Senado . Both are in Madrid . The Cortes are elected through universal, free, equal, direct and secret suffrage , with the exception of some senatorial seats, which are elected indirectly by

1380-617: The 1490s but her grandson the Habsburg emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) was able to easily provide for Ferdinand Magellan 's 1519 expedition and then to pointedly sell away all of Spain's rights to the Spice Islands (now Indonesia 's Malukus ) without any consultation with the Toledo Cortes in 1529. The 1520 Revolt of the Comuneros had intended to reverse this trend and provide

1440-404: The Congress holds the power to ultimately override any decision of the Senate by a sufficient majority (usually an absolute majority or three-fifths majority ). The Congress is composed of 350 deputies (but that figure may change in the future as the constitution establishes a maximum of 400 and a minimum of 300) directly elected by universal suffrage approximately every four years. The Senate

1500-528: The Conservatives and Liberals would have alternating periods as the majority in the Cortes, with other parties restricted to a smaller number of seats. Soon after the Soviet revolution (1917), the Spanish political parties started polarizing, and the left-wing Communist Party (PCE) and Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) blamed the Government for supposed election fraud in small towns ( caciquismo ), which

1560-446: The Cortes of Alcalá began to refer to these delegates as oidores , and the new institution they formed as the audiencia . This early audiencia was still closely tied to the king's personal right to judge. In reviewing the cases before them, oidores relied on summaries prepared by court lawyers known as relatores . As the Crown of Castile found its territories rapidly expanding half

1620-492: The Cortes was able to independently select agents to act as permanent advisors to the king between its sessions. Beginning with the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand , monarchs' control over Spain's various kingdoms in personal union allowed them to curtail the power of the grandees and burghers. Queen Isabella initially had difficulty in securing funding for the voyages of Christopher Columbus in

1680-560: The Cortes was immediately set aside by Ferdinand upon his restoration in 1814. His conservative policies led to a series of military coups that culminated in Col.   Rafael del Riego forcing him to accept a more liberal constitution from 1820–1823, the Trienio Liberal ("Three Liberal Years"). Ferdinand vetoed nearly every law passed during the period and repeatedly asked other nations to invade and restore him to his previous authority. Finally,

1740-456: The Cortes' founding law and the subsequent regulations were based on the principles of rejection of parliamentarism and political pluralism. Members of the Cortes were not elected and exercised only symbolic power. It had no power over government spending, and the cabinet, appointed and dismissed by Franco alone, retained real legislative authority. In 1967, with the enaction of the Organic Law of

1800-666: The Labour Government of 1999 tried to expel all hereditary peers from the Lords, the Lords threatened to wreck the Government's entire legislative agenda and to block every bill which was sent to the chamber. This standoff led to negotiations between Viscount Cranborne, the then Shadow Leader of the House, and the Labour Government, resulting in the Weatherill Amendment to the House of Lords Act 1999 , which preserved 92 hereditary peers in

1860-476: The Republic had been backstabbed. Also, for the second time in Spanish history, some regions were granted autonomous governments within the unitary state. Many on the extreme right rose up with General José Sanjurjo in 1932 against the Government's social policies, but the coup was quickly defeated. The elections for the second term were held in 1933 and won by the coalition between the Radical Party ( center ) and

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1920-535: The State , the accommodation of "two family representatives per province, elected by those on the electoral roll of family heads and married women" (the so-called tercio familiar ) ensued, opening a fraction of the Cortes' composition to some mechanisms of individual participation. The Cortes are a bicameral parliament composed of a lower house ( Congreso de los Diputados , congress of deputies ) and an upper house ( Senado , senate ). Although they share legislative power,

1980-459: The autonomy of the Crown of Aragon . Philip also acted to repeal or curtail most of the diverse grants of autonomy and privilege ( fueros ) throughout his kingdom. Navarre was finally merged during the 1833 territorial division of Spain . With both the Bourbon monarchs Charles IV and Ferdinand VII having abdicated their throne and Napoleon Bonaparte having appointed his brother Joseph as

2040-563: The collection of taxes in Castile and the larger empire; separate deputations oversaw similar work in Aragon and Navarre. The corteses were able to regain some of their previous powers and influence during the 17th century, as repeated sovereign defaults reduced the monarchy to financial dependency and a series of deputies including the Count-Duke of Olivares oversaw most day-to-day government. Under

2100-414: The crown felt it was necessary to create this office to legally compel the reconciliation of the married couple. An example of this problem is the notorious case of Pedro de Valdivia . The Audiencia of Lima, under the direction of President (and acting viceroy) Pedro de la Gasca forced Valdivia to repudiate his mistress, Inés de Suárez , and to bring his wife Marina Ortíz de Gaete to Chile. Over time,

2160-480: The current system, which tries to incorporate the interests of province and autonomous communities at the same time. Upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature , the other chamber being the lower house . The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor

2220-477: The following restrictions are often placed on upper houses: In parliamentary democracies and among European upper houses the Italian Senate is a notable exception to these general rules, in that it has the same powers as its lower counterpart: any law can be initiated in either house and must be approved in the same form by both houses. Additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office,

2280-460: The house. Compromise and negotiation between the two houses make the Parliament Act a very rarely used backup plan. Even without a veto, an upper house may defeat legislation. Its opposition may give the lower chamber a chance to reconsider or even abandon a controversial measure. It can also delay a bill so that it does not fit within the legislative schedule, or until a general election produces

2340-496: The interim governor or viceroy, depending on the specific law of the territory . The oidor de casados was a special type of judge that arose to deal with the de facto separation of many married couples during the colonization of the New World and the fact that, after leaving Spain, many married men abandoned their lawful wives and entered into informal relationships with either native or European women. In order to deal with this,

2400-490: The left wing government of Catalonia, which had been granted home rule, formally rebelled against the central government, denying its power. This provoked the dissolution of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the imprisonment of their leaders. The leftist minority in the Cortes then pressed Alcalá Zamora for a dissolution, arguing that the uprising were the consequence of social rejection of the right-wing government. The President,

2460-495: The legislatures of the autonomous communities . The Cortes Generales are composed of 615 members: 350 Deputies and 265 Senators. The members of the Cortes Generales serve four-year terms, and they are representatives of the Spanish people. In both chambers, the seats are divided by constituencies that correspond with the fifty provinces of Spain, plus Ceuta and Melilla . However, each island or group of islands within

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2520-655: The long-term left-right confrontation worsened, and many right-wing rebellions were started. Then, in 1936, the Army's failed coup degenerated into the Spanish Civil War , putting an end to the Second Republic. From November 1936 to October 1937, the Cortes were held at Valencia City Hall , which was still being used for its local purposes at the same time. The building was a target for the Italian Air Force in service of

2580-500: The mid-7th century placed the kings, Visigoths , and native Spanish under a single law and formed the basis of Spanish law through the medieval period. The Visigothic councils, however, gradually came to be completely dominated by the clergy under the leadership of the archbishop of Toledo ; with ecclesiastical prerogatives completely secure, they then tended to allow royal edicts to come into effect without further ratification. The royal councils ( Latin : curia regis ) of

2640-406: The monarchist cause nationally, but most provincial capitals and other sizable cities sided heavily with the republicans. This was interpreted as a victory, as the rural results were under the always-present suspicion of caciquismo and other irregularities while the urban results were harder to influence. The King left Spain, and a Republic was declared on 14 April 1931. The Second Spanish Republic

2700-531: The new Constitution , with the ex-monarchist leader Niceto Alcalá Zamora as President of the Republic and the left-wing leader Manuel Azaña as Prime Minister. The election gave a majority in the Cortes and thus, the Government, to a coalition between Azaña's party and the PSOE. A remarkable deed is universal suffrage , allowing women to vote, a provision highly criticized by Socialist leader Indalecio Prieto , who said

2760-535: The new king, a " Cortes of Cádiz " was convened that claimed sovereignty over Spain and operated as a government-in-exile . The Cortes was the first to act as a single representative body for the entire country and empire, although substitutes had to be chosen from among the people of Cádiz for many regions occupied by the French and unable to send their own delegates. Extremely liberal, the Constitution of 1812 enacted by

2820-452: The passage of most bills, but it must be given an opportunity to debate them and propose amendments, and can thereby delay the passage of a bill with which it disagrees. Bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month. The House of Lords is sometimes seen as having a special role of safeguarding

2880-481: The power to enact a constitutional reform. The modern Cortes Generales were created by the 1978 Constitution of Spain , but the institution has a long history. The tribal councils organized under Germanic law in the Visigothic Kingdom had the power of appointing and confirming kings, as well as passing laws and judgment. The Visigothic Code compiled under kings Chindasuinth and Recceswinth in

2940-584: The powers of the oidor de casados evolved to cover all types of lawsuits between a married couple. Due to the general use of the word oidor , the term was also applied to the clerics who served as judges in ecclesiastical courts , although they had nothing to do with the audiencias . Cortes Generales Supported by (20) Opposition (153) Supported by (25) Opposition (178) The Cortes Generales ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkoɾtes xeneˈɾales] ; English: Spanish Parliament , lit.   'General Courts') are

3000-424: The powers of upper houses relative to their lower counterparts. Some upper houses have been fully abolished; others have had their powers reduced by constitutional or legislative amendments. Also, conventions often exist that the upper house ought not to obstruct the business of government for frivolous or merely partisan reasons. These conventions have tended to harden with a passage of time. In presidential systems,

3060-525: The restoration of a bicameral Congress via a constitutional amendment in 1941, and via adoption of a new constitution in 1987. A previous government of Ireland (the 31st Dáil) promised a referendum on the abolition of its upper house , the Seanad Éireann , during the 24th Seanad session. By a narrow margin, the Irish public voted to retain it. Conservative-leaning Fine Gael and Left-leaning Sinn Féin both supported

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3120-500: The uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom and important civil liberties against ill-considered change. The House of Lords has a number of ways to block legislation and to reject it; however, the House of Commons can eventually use the Parliament Act to force something through. The Commons will often accept amendments passed by the Lords; however, the two houses have sometimes reached a constitutional standoff. For example, when

3180-526: The upper house is frequently given other powers to compensate for its restrictions: There are a variety of ways an upper house's members are assembled: by direct or indirect election, appointment or a mixture of these. Many upper houses are not directly elected but appointed: either by the head of state, by the head of government or in some other way. This is usually intended to produce a house of experts or otherwise distinguished citizens, who would not necessarily be returned in an election. For example, members of

3240-665: The young and chronically ill Charles   II , the Cortes of Castile was responsible for naming his mother Mariana regent. During the War of the Spanish Succession , the Bourbon king Philip   V suppressed the Cortes of Aragon and Valencia in 1707 and those of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands in 1714. Following the Peace of Utrecht , the 1716 Nueva Planta Decrees fully abolished

3300-851: Was chosen by state legislatures until the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The upper house may be directly elected but in different proportions to the lower house - for example, the senates of Australia, Brazil and the United States have a fixed number of elected members from each state, regardless of the population. Many jurisdictions once possessed upper houses but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems, including Croatia , Denmark , Estonia , Hungary , Iceland , Iran , Mauritania , New Zealand , Peru , Sweden , Turkey , Venezuela , many Indian states , Brazilian states , Canadian provinces , subnational entities such as Queensland , and some other jurisdictions. Newfoundland had

3360-465: Was established as a presidential republic , with a unicameral Parliament and a President of the Republic as the Head of State . Among his powers were the appointment and dismissal of the Prime Minister , either on the advice of Parliament or just having consulted it before, and a limited power to dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections. The first term was the constituent term charged with creating

3420-504: Was incorrectly supposed to have been wiped out in the 1900s by the failed regenerationist movement. In the meantime, spiralling violence started with the murders of many leaders by both sides. Deprived of those leaders, the regime entered a general crisis, with extreme police measures which led to a dictatorship (1921–1930) during which the Senate was again abolished. The dictatorship, now ruled by Admiral Aznar-Cabañas , called for local elections. The results were overwhelmingly favorable to

3480-454: Was proclaimed and the Congress of Deputies members started writing a Constitution, supposedly that of a federal republic , with the power of Parliament being nearly supreme (see parliamentary supremacy , although Spain did not use the Westminster system ). However, due to numerous issues, Spain was not ready to become a republic; after several crises the government collapsed, and the monarchy

3540-623: Was restored in 1874. The regime just after the First Republic is called the Bourbon Restoration . It was formally a constitutional monarchy , with the monarch as a rubberstamp to the Cortes' acts but with some reserve powers, such as appointing and dismissing the Prime Minister and appointing senators for the new Senate , remade as an elected House. In practice there was an artificial two-party system called El Turno Pacífico (peaceful rotation) in which elections were informally fixed so

3600-675: Was the first to provide formal national representation of the free urban citizens alongside the clergy and hereditary nobility. Subsequently, larger and more inclusive Cortes occurred in the Principality of Catalonia in 1192, the Kingdom of Portugal in 1211, the Kingdom of Castile in 1250, the Kingdom of Aragon in 1274, the Kingdom of Valencia in 1283, and Kingdom of Navarre in 1300. The Leonese and Castilian Corteses were merged in 1258, after which it provided representation to Burgos, Toledo, León, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, Guadalajara, and (after 1492) Granada. During

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