Legislature vs. Parliament — What's the Difference?

The term "legislature" is a generic term that refers to a governmental body with the power to make, amend, and repeal laws. Parliaments, on the other hand, are a specific type of legislature, traditionally bicameral, with specific roles and historical contexts, particularly within the Westminster system and other parliamentary democracies. Each operates within the framework of a country’s constitution, but their structures and functions may differ.

A legislature is a broad term that encompasses various types of law-making bodies across different systems of government, including parliaments, congresses, and assemblies. Parliaments are often associated with systems that follow the British parliamentary model, which includes two houses: an elected lower house and an appointed or hereditary upper house. Both legislature and parliament serve the essential function of representing the electorate and creating legislation.

The legislature is an essential component of democratic governance, whether it's within a parliamentary, presidential, or mixed system. A parliament functions within a legislature, but it is characterized by its own set of traditions, procedures, and practices that can vary significantly from those of non-parliamentary legislatures. For instance, in a parliamentary system, the executive branch is typically derived from the legislature, which is not always the case in other systems.

While the legislature is the broader term for a law-making body, the parliament specifically refers to a legislative body that is often part of a monarchy or a parliamentary republic. Legislatures are present in virtually all countries where there is some form of government, but not all countries have parliaments. Legislatures take on different forms, with different names and organizational structures, but parliaments have a more uniform identity, often symbolizing the historical development of representative governments in certain regions.

Legislatures can exist in different forms and under different names, such as the Congress in the United States or the National People's Congress in China. Parliament, by contrast, is a term used in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, with specific institutional connotations and a traditional connection to the historical development of the English legal system. Regardless of the name, the fundamental role of both legislature and parliament is to enact, amend, and scrutinize legislation.