I have a paper due and I have no idea what the hell a “super” legistaure even is!!! can one of you political dopers help me out here?
[I know we don’t usually help with homework, but I think we’ve all been at the breaking point with a term paper due :eek: , so here we go.]
I wouldn’t use the term to describe the U.N., which is an international assembly of sovereign states. It can’t pass laws that bind its members.
The usage of “super legislature” that I’m familiar with is in the area of constitution-making and amending. In political systems that have an entrenched constitution, the legislature normally cannot amend the constitution by passing an ordinary statute. Some special mechanism is needed to amend the constitution.
In some systems, a constitutional amendment may require a “super majority” - e.g. - requires more than a simple majority to pass, such as two-thirds or three-quarters of the assembly members. For example, for Congress to propose an amendment, it has to pass with a two-thirds majority in both houses, or it doesn’t even go to the states.
A “super legislature” is some sort of legislature that is superior to the ordinary one. A good example is a constitutional convention. The consitution may provide that it can only be amended by a special constitutional convention called for that purpose.
There’s also the approach that a legislature can introduce a constitutional amendment, and if it passes the legislature, it then must be approved by the voters in a referendum. In that sort of system, the electorate as a whole makes up the “super legislature”. (I understand that the Massachussetts state constitution requires something along these lines, as has become apparent in the recent gay marriage debate there. A special sitting of the Massachussetts legislature has approved a draft amendment, but it sounds like the amendment has to be approved by the next legislature as well, after there’s been an election, before it will become part of the state constitution.)
And then in federal states, such as Canada and the U.S., amendments to the national constitution typically require approval by the Congress/Parliament, and also by a certain number of state/provincial legislatures. Sometimes a “super majority” is also required as part of the process. In this type of system, the Congress/Parliament and state/provincial legislatures collectively act as a “super legislature”, since they collectively have powers that the Congress/Parliament and the state/provincial legislatures do not have individually.
Hope that helps.
[sessional lecturer mode] And next time, don’t procrastinate on the term papers![/sessional lecturer mode]
A “super” legislature is legislature over and above all other legislature, in this case, the legislatures of the member nations. Hope this helps 