Chamber of the Estates-General, the Dutch legislature.

A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. Legislatures are known by many names, including: parliament, congress, diet and national assembly. In parliamentary systems of government, the legislature is formally supreme and appoints the executive. In presidential systems of government, the legislature is considered a branch of government which is equal to, and independent of, the executive. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise taxes and adopt the budget and other money bills. The consent of the legislature is also often required to ratify treaties and declare war.

Overview

The primary component of a legislature is one or more chambers or houses: assemblies that debate and vote upon bills. Legislative bodies are an essential part of

List of titles of legislatures

National

• Parliament
• Congress
• Diet
• National Assembly

• Althing — Iceland
• Bundestag — Germany
• Cortes Generales — Spain
• Eduskunta or Riksdag — Finland
• Federal Assembly — Russia, Switzerland
• Folketing — Denmark
• Knesset — Israel
• Legislative Yuan — Republic of China/Taiwan
• Oireachtas — Republic of Ireland
• Riigikogu — Estonia
• Riksdag — Sweden
• Sabha, Rajya/Lok — India
• Sabor — Croatia
• Saeima — Latvia
• Seimas — Lithuania
• Skupština — Serbia and Montenegro
• Estates-General or Staten Generaal — Netherlands
• Storting — Norway
• Tynwald — Isle of Man
• Verkhovna Rada — Ukraine

Historical

• Dáil — Irish Republic (1919-1922)
• Volkskammer — East Germany (1949-1990)

State

• General Assembly, General Court — United States
• Landtag — Germany, Austria

See also

• List of democracy and elections-related topics
• List of national legislatures
• List of state legislatures of the United States