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Difficulty: MediumThe Legislature: Unicameralism and Bicameralism

In a multi-ethnic federal republic, constitutional architects often establish a bicameral legislature rather than a unicameral one. Which of the following best explains the primary democratic function served by creating an upper chamber based on equal representation of federating units?

  1. A
    It guarantees that executive ministers are selected directly from elected legislative members to maintain inter-organ checks.
  2. It prevents heavily populated states or regions from dominating smaller federating units in national law-making.Answer
  3. C
    It grants delegated powers to local government authorities through constitutional devolution.
  4. D
    It ensures that public money bills bypass the lower chamber completely during the second reading stage.

Answer

An upper chamber based on equal representation safeguards smaller federating units from being politically marginalized by more populous states in national law-making.
In federal systems (such as Nigeria or the USA), bicameralism allows one house to represent the population proportionally while the second house represents each federating state equally. This ensures that less populous states have an equal voice and cannot be outvoted continuously by highly populated states.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the core characteristic of a federal upper house
In federal bicameral structures, the lower house represents population size while the upper house represents constituent federating states equally.
Federalism requires protecting minority federating units against majority tyranny by larger states.
2
Evaluate the functional advantage over a unicameral system
A unicameral legislature based purely on population would give populous regions total dominance over national legislation.
Equal state representation in a second chamber creates a constitutional check against regional dominance.

Key Concept

Bicameralism and Representation of Federating Units
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

The Legislature: Unicameralism and Bicameralism

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