The notion, genesis and representativeness of the second chambers of parliament on the example of the United States of America, the Russian Federation and the Federal Republic of Germany

In this article, the analysis of the studied topic was carried out on the example of the United States of America (USA), the Russian Federation and the Federal Republic of Germany, states with a bicameral parliament and which may be considered representative. All these countries are federal states. This article aims to present the notion of the second chamber of the parliament, its representativeness as well as the analysis of the process of shaping the second chambers over the centuries and an indication that the structure and role of contemporary parliaments in the countries surveyed is the result of the centuries-long evolution of this body.

Current Limitations and Possible Ways to Increase the Level of Representativeness of Elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland

The problem of distortion of the representativeness of elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland is widely noticed. Now, the vote of the inhabitants of one constituency may weigh less that in another. The aim of this paper is to present de lege ferenda postulates to increase the level of representativeness of Sejm elections. The authors carry out a legal analysis and a classical systemic analysis, pointing out the deficiencies of the current electoral system and proposing solutions. There are research questions: (1) Does the current electoral system ensure that elections to the Sejm are truly representative? (2) Is it possible to ensure that elections to the Sejm are truly representative? The conclusions of the analysis show that the problem under study appears to be increasingly serious for the democracy and civil society, but there are legal solutions that can increase the level of representativeness of Sejm elections.