ABSTRACT
Notwithstanding the fact that in the past it was said that ‘experience, no less than philosophy, has declared unmistakably in favour of the bicameral system’, 1 from the studies contained within this collection it is apparent that although it is far from uncommon to find a second chamber present within a nation's body politic, the majority of countries today do not in fact have a second chamber. Indeed, of the 177 countries around the world currently classified by the Inter-Parliamentary Union as having parliaments, 63 per cent (111) are unicameral (see Massicotte) and only 37 per cent (66) are bicameral.
