ABSTRACT

This new study of senates in small powers across the North Atlantic shows that the establishment and the reform of these upper legislative houses have followed remarkably parallel trajectories. Senate reforms emerged in the wake of deep political crises within the North Atlantic world and were influenced by the comparatively weak positions of small powers. Reformers responded to crises and constantly looked beyond borders and oceans for inspiration to keep their senates relevant.

The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429323119, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

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part I|76 pages

The need for a senate (c. 1790–1870)

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chapter 4|15 pages

A liberal senate

The Danish Landsting of 1849
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chapter 5|14 pages

The Senate of Canada

Renewed life to an original intent
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part II|81 pages

Democracy, the people and the Senate (c. 1848–1935)

chapter 7|10 pages

Aristocratic populism

The Belgian Senate and the language of democracy, 1848–1893
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chapter 8|17 pages

Rejecting the upper chamber

National unity, democratisation and imperial rule in the Grand Duchy of Finland, 1860–1906
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chapter 9|13 pages

The Swedish Senate, 1867–1970

From elitist moderniser to democratic subordinate
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chapter 10|8 pages

The Senate and the ‘Social Majority’

Joannes Theodorus Buys (1826–1893) and a ‘Meritocracy’ in the Netherlands (1848–1887)
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chapter 11|16 pages

The Irish Senate, 1920–1936

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part III|97 pages

Does a state still need a senate? (c. 1920–present)

chapter 12|15 pages

The vitality of the Dutch Senate

Two centuries of reforms and staying in power
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chapter 13|14 pages

Marginalising the upper house

The Liberal Party, the Senate and democratic reform in 1920s Canada
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chapter 14|14 pages

Vocational voices or puppets of the lower house?

Irish senators, 1938–1948
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chapter 16|14 pages

Unicameralism in Denmark

Abolition of the Senate, current functioning and debate
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chapter 17|16 pages

Precarious bicameralism?

Senates in Ireland from the late Middle Ages to the present
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