2.6 - Legislative Systems
Every course country has a legislative body, but their structure (single chamber versus two chambers) and their real functions vary a lot depending on regime type and political system.
China: Party-Controlled Unicameral Legislature
China's National People's Congress (NPC) is formally the most powerful government institution according to the constitution, but it operates entirely under Communist Party control. It's unicameral, a single chamber with roughly 3,000 deputies, elected indirectly through provincial congresses and special constituencies for five-year terms, meeting for only about two weeks a year, with no genuine competition since the party controls candidate selection.
Its formal functions include electing the president (really just rubber-stamping the party's choice), approving the premier (automatic approval of the party's candidate), and legitimizing executive policy by passing laws with near-unanimous votes and little real debate. Despite constitutional supremacy on paper, the NPC has no real independent power; the party decides everything beforehand, and deputies just vote as directed. When the NPC approved removing presidential term limits in 2018, the vote was 2,958 in favor, 2 against, and 3 abstentions, which shows just how little genuine deliberation actually happens.
Iran: Theocratic Unicameral Legislature
Iran's Majles (Islamic Consultative Assembly) is a single chamber of 290 members elected directly for four-year terms, with real competition, but only among candidates the Guardian Council has already approved.
Its functions include passing legislation (real legislative work happens here, subject to Guardian Council veto), overseeing the budget, confirming presidential cabinet nominees individually, and questioning officials, which can lead to no confidence votes. But it's constrained heavily: the Guardian Council can nullify legislation after the fact if it's deemed un-Islamic, and the Expediency Council resolves disputes between the Majles and the Guardian Council, usually siding with the more conservative interpretation. The Majles did reject several of President Rouhani's cabinet nominees, showing some independence, but it can't challenge the fundamental structure of the regime, and reformist legislation regularly gets vetoed by the Guardian Council.
Mexico: Bicameral Congressional-Presidential System
Mexico's Congress has two chambers with distinct roles in its presidential system. The Chamber of Deputies (lower house) has 500 members, 300 from single-member districts and 200 through proportional representation, serving three-year terms (a 2014 reform allowed members of Congress to be reelected to consecutive terms starting in 2018, and a 2025 reform bans consecutive reelection again starting with the 2030 elections). The Senate (upper house) has 128 members, three per state plus 32 by proportional representation, serving six-year terms aligned with the presidential term.
Both chambers must approve legislation, either can initiate most bills, and a two-thirds vote in both can override a presidential veto. The Chamber of Deputies uniquely levies taxes (tax and revenue bills must start there) and approves the national budget. It also verifies outcomes of elections: after the Electoral Tribunal rules on any challenges and declares the presidential election valid, the Chamber formally proclaims the president-elect to the country. The Senate uniquely confirms presidential appointments to the Supreme Court (the rule until the 2024 judicial reform; since 2025, voters elect the justices), approves treaties, and authorizes federal intervention in state matters. Mexico's Congress gained real independence after the PRI lost its majority in the Chamber of Deputies in 1997, and it has blocked presidents: AMLO's Morena lacked the two-thirds majority needed for constitutional amendments until 2024, so his 2022 electricity reform failed. Since 2024, Morena and its allies have held two-thirds of both chambers, so Congress checks the president much less, though in March 2026 it still rejected Sheinbaum's electoral reform when some of her allies voted no.
Nigeria: Bicameral Congressional-Presidential System
Nigeria's National Assembly mirrors the US Congress structure. The House of Representatives has 360 members from single-member districts serving renewable four-year terms, while the Senate has 109 members (three per state plus one from the Federal Capital Territory) serving renewable four-year terms with equal representation per state.
Both chambers must approve legislation and can override a presidential veto with two-thirds support each. The Senate holds the unique confirmation powers: it confirms cabinet ministers, ambassadors, the Chief Justice and the other Supreme Court justices, and other top officials. Its unique impeachment role is that the impeachment notice goes to the President of the Senate, who starts the process, though removing a president takes two-thirds votes in both chambers. A treaty only takes effect inside Nigeria once the whole National Assembly passes it into law. The National Assembly has real independence on paper, and it has rejected nominees, delayed budgets, and investigated executive corruption, but the president's party has almost always held majorities in both chambers since 1999 (the PDP until 2015, the APC since), so the biggest fights usually come from inside the ruling party, like the Senate under Bukola Saraki clashing with Buhari from 2015 to 2019.
Russia: Bicameral Parliamentary-Hybrid System
Russia's Federal Assembly has two chambers, but both ultimately serve the presidency. The State Duma (lower house) has 450 members elected through a mixed proportional and single-member system for five-year terms, dominated by United Russia, which won 349 seats in the September 2026 election. The Federation Council (upper house) isn't directly elected at all: each federal subject (region) sends two members, one chosen by its governor and one by its regional legislature, and since 2020 the president can add up to 30 members of his own (up to seven of them for life). Russia now counts 89 federal subjects because it includes Crimea, Sevastopol, and four Ukrainian regions it claims to have annexed, which most countries don't recognize.
The Duma initiates and passes legislation and confirms the prime minister (though it can only reject a nominee three times before the president dissolves it, and in practice it just approves the president's choice). The Federation Council approves budget legislation, treaties, judicial nominees, and troop deployments outside Russia. But United Russia's dominance means the legislature mostly rubber-stamps presidential initiatives. When Putin sought constitutional amendments in 2020, the Duma approved them quickly, with a vote of 383-0 and 43 abstentions, showing basically no genuine independence.
United Kingdom: Bicameral Parliamentary System
The UK's Parliament has two chambers, with the elected Commons holding dominant power. The House of Commons has 650 MPs elected from single-member constituencies for terms up to five years, and it controls government formation. The House of Lords has roughly 800 members, none of them elected: life peers appointed for life (most recommended by party leaders, some by an independent appointments commission) and 26 Church of England bishops. The last hereditary peers lost their seats in April 2026 under the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026, and the Lords can't be dissolved.
The Commons has primary legislative authority, controls the government through confidence votes and regular questioning, and has exclusive control over money bills. It effectively selects the Prime Minister through election results, since the monarch appoints whoever commands a Commons majority. The Lords reviews and amends bills, can delay non-money bills for up to a year (though not block them permanently), and used to serve a judicial function before the Supreme Court was created in 2009. The Lords delayed Brexit legislation multiple times, proposing amendments, but the Commons ultimately used its supremacy to override Lords objections while still incorporating some of the added debate and modifications.
Comparing the Systems
Unicameral legislatures (China, Iran) concentrate legislative function into a single chamber, though both are limited by authoritarian features like party control or religious oversight. Bicameral legislatures (Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, UK) provide an extra layer of review, with federal systems using upper chambers for regional representation and the UK using an appointed Lords for expertise-based review.
Legislative independence is high in the UK (which controls the government), Mexico, and Nigeria (which have genuine separation from the president); medium in Iran (functioning within religious constraints); and low in Russia (presidential dominance) and China (party control). Some legislatures, like China's NPC and Russia's Federal Assembly, have impressive formal powers but lack real independence to use them, while others, like the UK Commons and Nigeria's National Assembly, exercise substantial practical power despite various constraints. Regime type, ultimately, determines whether a legislature's structure translates into real checks on the executive or just provides a democratic-looking facade.