Editing University constituency (section)

{{short description|Parliamentary constituency representing a university}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

A '''university constituency''' is a [[constituency]], used in elections to a legislature, that represents the members of one or more universities rather than residents of a geographical area. These may or may not involve [[plural voting]], in which voters are eligible to vote in or as part of this entity and their home area's geographical constituency.

When [[James VI]] inherited the [[English throne]] in 1603, the system was adopted by the [[Parliament of England]]. The system was continued in the [[Parliament of Great Britain]] (from 1707 to 1800) and the [[United Kingdom Parliament]], until 1950. It was also used in the [[Parliament of Ireland]], in the [[Kingdom of Ireland]], from 1613 to 1800, and in the [[Irish Free State]] from 1922 to 1936.

Such constituencies have also existed in [[Japan]] and in some countries of the [[British Empire]] such as [[India]].

At present there are four instances in two countries of university constituencies: two in [[Seanad Éireann]] (the upper—and in general less powerful—house of the [[Oireachtas|legislature]] of the [[Republic of Ireland]]) and two in the [[Senate of Rwanda]].