Talk:State legislature (United States)

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[edit] State legislature numbers

I've noticed that out of a sample size of five states, all of the sampled states have 1 senator in the state legislature for every 3 in the lower house. Are all state legislatures fixed so the upper house would be one-third that of the lower house, just like the Australian Senate has to be roughly half the Australian House of Representatives? Scott Gall 08:04, 26 May 2006 (UTC) PS: I've noticed the Canadian Senate and the Canadian House of Commons might be using a 1:3 ratio as well (or a 105:308 ratio to be more precise :-)) I thought only Australia had one of those "nexus clauses."

No each state is free to determine the ratio of members in each house. In Minnesota, there are 67 senators and 134 representatives and Iowa has 50 senators and 100 representatives...So these states have 1 senator for every 2 representatives. EdwinHJ | Talk 14:40, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

I would also point out that the Nebraska Legislature is unicameral - it only has one house, a further variation in legislative structure. --Tim4christ17 02:48, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

However, there is a reason that he is noticing these whole ratios in US state legislatures. In my experience, many states' are divided into electoral districts, where each district elects a certain number of representatives to the state lower house (often 2 or 3, varying by state) and elects exactly 1 state senator. --thirty-seven 17:39, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

In Canada's federal parliament, there is no law or rule governing the ratio of the size of the Senate to the size of the House of Commons. Over time, the Commons tends to grow as the population increases, but the number of Senators per province and territory is fixed, so the size of the Senate only changes if new provinces or territories are added to the country. --thirty-seven 17:36, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Though they seem to follow a similar concept, remember that US legislatures don't vote in joint sessions the way the Australian Parliament in theory would, so the need for a hard-and-fast rule isn't there. Nevertheless, I guess it just seems rational to keep the ratio of two house in a single legislature to within 1:3 or less. Much more and one wing of the state house building might seem a little out of proportion :-) . --Xyzzyva 15:00, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] U.S.-centric

Other countries also have states. These states also have legislatures. - Privacy 21:25, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

True. But there is the problem that they often use different names, even in a generic sense. Australia, for instance, would use 'Parliaments' rather than 'legislatures'. Then we get the use of the original German term 'Landtag' in Europe. So is 'State legislature' even an appropriate title for a discussion of the various bodies? Perhaps it would be best to move the US-centric parts to 'US State legislatures', then begin anew with a more global perspective. --Xyzzyva 08:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Also, to add: in Canada, the best term would probably be 'Provincial Parliament', but those bodies are still quite analogous to a US state legislature or a German Landtag. Can anyone think of a better generic term, all I can think of is 'Sub-national legislative body', and that isn't going to cut the mustard. --Xyzzyva 19:32, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

I think "legislature" is a good term to use, internationally. Parliaments (like in Canada, Australia, and Germany) and congressional bodies (which is how the U.S. state legislatures are set up and function) are both types of legislatures. I think "Sub-national legislature" would be a good title. --thirty-seven 19:54, 9 December 2006 (UTC)