It is common for a democratic parliamentary system to have a bicameral legislature, with a directly elected lower chamber and a second, revising chamber. The United Kingdom is unusual in that its second chamber is largely nominated rather than elected, and those that are not nominated are drawn from the hereditary aristocracy.
There has been much recent debate about how the House of Lords should be reformed – with the expulsion of most of the hereditaries a notable change – but the British system is still archaic compared with most other countries.
Articles
You can find the archive of Federal Union articles on reform of the House of Lords here.
-
Billy Bragg is wrong about the House of Lords
Well-known singer and campaigner Billy Bragg has launched his own campaign for reform of the House of Lords, proposing it should be elected at the same time as the House […]
-
Reform of the House of Lords
The following submission was made to the Lord Chancellor’s Department in response to the government’s White Paper on reform of the House of Lords. 1. Federalism divides political power between […]