A new index of bicameralism: taking legitimacy seriously

2021/11/10 by Sean Mueller, Adrian Vatter, Sereina Dick · 1 voice · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #European Union Policy and Governance #Local Government Finance and Decentralization #Political Systems and Governance

paper · doi:10.1080/13572334.2021.1996753

openalex publication_date 2021/11/10 · openalex created_date 2021/11/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

Second chambers frequently form part of national institutional configurations, but their impact on policy making can vary from negligible to all-important veto players. The standard approach is to assess their importance via two dimensions: formal powers and compositional differences vis-à-vis the first chamber. In this paper, we conceptualise a third dimension: the legitimacy of second chambers. We subsequently measure the strength of second chambers in 14 countries and develop a new index of bicameralism. Running several quantitative analyses with a total sample of 29 OECD countries, we show how this index is significantly correlated to lower state intervention in the economy and greater regional autonomy.

Citations

• Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union Revisited: Input, Output <i>and</i> ‘Throughput’
• Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy
• The Legitimacy of Political Institutions

Cited by

• Lobbying on multiple routes to influence national legislation: German federalism and the European Union
• Analyzing gender gaps in bicameral legislatures: How asymmetrical institutions affect the supply and demand for female candidates

Discussions

• Im Vergleich westlicher Demokratien ist der Bundesrat eine schwache Kammer: Der Bikameralismus (=Zweikammersystem) ist in Österreich sehr asymmetrisch ausgeprägt (dominanter NR, untergeordneter BR), s [bsky, 6 points, 1 comments]

Related

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• Intercameral Relations in a Bicameral Elected and Sortition Legislature
• The Justification of Bicameralism
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• The Limits of Delegation: Veto Players, Central Bank Independence, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy