Bicameralism as a Form of Government (Or: Why Australia and Japan Do Not Have a Parliamentary System)

Abstract

The article analyses a certain type of bicameralism not merely as a form of legislative organisation, but as a form of government – as a hybrid between parliamentarism and presidentialism. A new typology of pure and hybrid forms of government is proposed, which classifies bicameralism in Australia and Japan as chamber-independent government. This type is systematically compared to other forms of government, including hybrids like semi-presidentialism, elected prime-ministerial government in Israel (from 1996 to 2002) and assembly-independent government in Switzerland. The article highlights how chamber-independent government has the potential to combine different visions of democracy without leading to presidentialization of political parties.

Keywords: bicameralism, executive-legislative relations, parliamentary government, Australia, Japan