A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate, so-called as an assembly of the senior and therefore considered wiser and more experienced members of the society or ruling class. However the Roman Senate was not the ancestor or predecessor of modern parliamentarism in any sense, because the Roman senate was not a de jure legislative body.
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate. They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town, the country's legislative capital.
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Government. The current constitution, the country's fifth, was drawn up by the Parliament elected in 1994 in the South African general election, 1994. It was promulgated by President Nelson Mandela on 18 December 1996 and came into effect on 4 February 1997, replacing the Interim Constitution of 1993. The first constitution was enacted by the South Africa Act 1909, the longest-lasting to date. Since 1961, the constitutions have promulgated a republican form of government.
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the final partition of the Polish state in 1795. The contemporary Senate is composed of 100 senators elected by a universal ballot and is headed by the Marshal of the Senate. The incumbent Marshal of the Senate is Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska.
The Great Council of Chiefs is a Fijian constitutional body. It previously existed from 1876 to March 2012 and was restored in May 2023.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to many other upper houses of legislatures throughout the world, in that its purpose is to represent the governments of the provinces, rather than directly representing the people.
Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces. Each province has a provincial council.
The Parliament of Pakistan is the supreme legislative body of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature, composed of the President of Pakistan and two houses: the Senate and the National Assembly. The president, as head of the legislature, has the power to summon or prorogue either house of the Parliament. The president can dissolve the National Assembly, only on the Prime Minister's advice.
The Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament. Created in 1831 as a chamber fully equal to the Chamber of Representatives, it has undergone several reforms in the past, most notably in 1993 and 2014. The 2014 elections were the first without a direct election of senators. Instead, the new Senate is composed of members of community and regional parliaments and co-opted members. It is a chamber of the communities and regions and serves as a platform for discussion and reflection about matters between these federated entities. The Senate today plays a minor role in the federal legislative process. However, the Senate, together with the Chamber, has full competence for the Constitution and legislation on the organization and functioning of the Federal State and the federated entities. Since the reform of 2014, it holds about ten plenary sessions a year.
Since its establishment in 1947, Pakistan has had a non-symmetric federal government and is a federal parliamentary democratic republic. At the national level, the people of Pakistan elect a bicameral legislature, the Parliament of Pakistan. The parliament consists of a lower house called the National Assembly, which is elected directly via first-past-the-post voting, and an upper house called the Senate, whose members are chosen by elected provincial legislators. The head of government, the Prime Minister, is elected by the majority members of the National Assembly and the head of state, the President, is elected by the Electoral College, which consists of both houses of Parliament together with the four provincial assemblies. In addition to the national parliament and the provincial assemblies, Pakistan also has more than five thousand elected local governments.
The Senate was the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa between 1910 and its abolition from 1 January 1981, and between 1994 and 1997.
The Parliament of Zimbabwe is the bicameral legislature of Zimbabwe composed of the Senate and the National Assembly. The Senate is the upper house, and consists of 80 members, 60 of whom are elected by proportional representation from ten six-member constituencies corresponding to the country's provinces. Of the remaining 20 seats, 18 are reserved for chiefs, and two for people with disabilities. The National Assembly is the lower house, and consists of 280 members. Of these, 210 are elected from single-member constituencies. The remaining 70 seats are reserved women's and youth quotas: 60 for women; 10 for youth. These are elected by proportional representation from ten six-member and one-member constituencies respectively, corresponding to the country's provinces.
The Senate of Zimbabwe is the upper of the two chambers in Zimbabwe's Parliament. It existed from independence in 1980 until 1989, and was re-introduced in November 2005. The other chamber of Parliament is the National Assembly.
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Cambodia. It is a legislative body composed of 62 members. 58 of the Senate seats are elected every six years by the commune councillors from 24 provinces of Cambodia and members of the National Assembly. In addition, the King nominates two senators, and the National Assembly nominates two, ending with a total of 62 senators. The Senate performs its duties as determined in the constitution and law in force. The Senate is chaired and presided by the president, currently Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party and assisted by two Vice Presidents.
The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Council building in Colombo Fort and met for the first time on 12 November 1947. The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971 by the eighth amendment to the Soulbury Constitution, prior to the adoption of the new Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka on 22 May 1972. In 2010 there were proposals to reintroduce the Senate.
The Constitution of 1961 was the fundamental law of South Africa for two decades. Under the terms of the constitution South Africa left the Commonwealth and became a republic.
The 27th South African Parliament was the sixth Parliament of South Africa to convene since the introduction of non-racial government in South Africa in 1994. It was elected in the general election of 8 May 2019 and consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly contains 400 members, while the National Council of Provinces contains 90 members. It was formally opened by President Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address in a joint sitting on 20 June 2019.
