Is the senate necessary nowadays? Considerations on bicameralism in historical and comparative terms

Abstract

Based on the 17th century ideas of sovereignty of the people, modern parliamentary systems to a substantial degree consist of unicameral bodies. This trend, marked in the last half-century, is slowly displacing traditional bicameral bodies, according to Inter-Parliamentary
Union statistics.
Parliaments derived from the institution of royal councils have a rich history. It is reasonable to look for their origin in Icelandic Althing and medieval German conventions. The English traditional parliament became the model institution, showed the way to bodies composed of more than two chambers. In our age researchers attempt to discover the phenomenon in four types of bicameralism: the Nordic, federal, self-governmental chambers, and house of “prudence”. The author of the article tries to find an adequate solution to this problem in Polish conditions, taking on historic and comparative comparison, focusing on modern legislative actions.