Legislature
Legislative power is vested in the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. (Literally "General Courts", but rarely translated. "Cortes" has been the historical and constitutional name used since Medieval Times. The qualifier "General", added in the 1978 constitution, implies the nation-wide character of the Parliament, since the legislatures of some autonomous communities are also labeled "Cortes"). The Cortes Generales are the supreme representatives of the Spanish people. This legislature is bicameral, integrated by the Congress of Deputies (Spanish: Congreso de los Diputados) and the Senate (Spanish: Senado). The General Courts exercise the legislative power of the State, approving the budget and controlling the actions of the government. As in most parliamentary systems, more legislative power is vested in the lower chamber, the Congress of the Deputies. The Speaker of Congress, known as "president of the Congress of Deputies" presides a joint-session of the Cortes Generales.
Each chamber of the Cortes Generales meets at separate precincts, and carry out their duties separately, except for specific important functions, in which case they meet in a joint session. Such functions include the elaboration of laws proposed by the executive ("the Government"), by one of the chambers, by an autonomous community, or through popular initiative; and the approval or amendment of the nation's budget proposed by the prime minister.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Spain
Famous quotes containing the word legislature:
“It seemed monstrous to our intolerant youth that “poor white folksy” men should have an equal right with gentlemen, born and bred, in deciding who should represent the county in the Legislature and the district in Congress.”
—Marion Harland (1830–1922)
“An ... important antidote to American democracy is American gerontocracy. The positions of eminence and authority in Congress are allotted in accordance with length of service, regardless of quality. Superficial observers have long criticized the United States for making a fetish of youth. This is unfair. Uniquely among modern organs of public and private administration, its national legislature rewards senility.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)