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A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature or Parliament. There have been many such bodies in history, the first of which was the Roman Senate.
The word senatorial is derived from the Latin word senÄtus (senate), which comes from senex, "old man". The members or legislators of a senate are called senators. The Latin word senator was adopted into English with no change in spelling. Its meaning is derived from a very ancient form of simple social organization in which decision-making powers are reserved for the eldest men. For the same reason, the word senate is correctly used when referring to any powerful authority characteristically composed by the eldest members of a community, as a deliberative body of a faculty in an institution of higher learning is often called a senate. The original senate was the Roman Senate, which lasted until 580. In the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Senate continued until the Fourth Crusade.
Modern democratic states with bicameral parliamentary systems are sometimes equipped with a senate, often distinguished from an ordinary parallel lower house, known variously as the "House of Representatives", "House of Commons", "Chamber of Deputies", "National Assembly", "Legislative Assembly", or "House of Assembly", by electoral rules. This may include minimum age required for voters and candidates, proportional or majoritarian or plurality system, and an electoral basis or collegium. Typically, the senate is referred to as the upper house and has a smaller membership than the lower house. In some federal states senates also exist at the subnational level. In the United States all states other than Nebraska have a state senate. In Australia all states other than Queensland have an upper house known as a legislative council. Several Canadian provinces also once had legislative councils, but these have all been abolished, the last being Quebec's Legislative Council, in 1968.
Senate membership can be determined either through elections or appointments. For example, elections are held every three years for half the membership of the Australian Senate, the term of a senator being six years. In contrast, members of the Canadian Senate are appointed by the Governor General upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, holding the office until they resign, are removed, or retire at the mandatory age of 75. In larger countries, the senate often serves a balancing effect by giving a larger share of power to regions or groups which would otherwise be overwhelmed under strictly popular apportionment.
The terms Senate and Senator, however, do not necessarily refer to a second chamber of a legislature:
Abolished in favor of
unicameral system
Legislature disbanded
New constitution adopted
* A Greek Senate was reestablished in 1927, and abolished again in 1935.
** A South African Senate was reconvened between 1994 and 1997, before being replaced by the National Council of Provinces.
*** A proposal to introduce a New Zealand Senate with a similar role to the defunct Legislative Council was considered in the early 1990s.
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Last updated on Monday September 24, 2007 at 05:23:47 PDT (GMT -0700)
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