Legislator

A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-national (for example, the European Parliament), national, such as the Japanese Diet, sub-national as in provinces, or local.

Overview

The political theory of the separation of powers requires legislators to be independent individuals from the members of the executive and the judiciary. Certain political systems adhere to this principle, others do not. In the United Kingdom and other countries using the Westminster system, for example, the executive is formed almost exclusively from legislators (members of the parliament), and the executive Cabinet itself has delegated legislative power.

In continental European jurisprudence and legal discussion, "the legislator" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) is the abstract entity that has produced the laws. When there is room for interpretation, the intent of the legislator will be questioned, and the court is directed to rule in the direction it judges to best fit the legislative intent, which can be difficult in the case of conflicting laws or constitutional provisions.

Terminology

The local term for a legislator is usually a derivation of the local term for the relevant legislature. Typical examples include

• Parliament: member of parliament
• Assembly: member of the assembly
• Legislature: member of the legislature
• Congress: member of congress
• Chamber of Deputies: deputy
• Senate: senator
• House of Representatives: representative
• The generic term "deputy" may also be used, deriving from the concept that the legislator is "deputising" for the electorate of their electoral district.

By country

This is an incomplete list of terms for a national legislator:

Country	Title	Legislature
Template:Flag	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	People's National Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
	lang}}	Senate
	lang}}	Several provincial Chambers of Deputies
Template:Flag	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	House of Representatives
Template:Flag	lang}} (Dutch) / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (French) / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (German)	Deputation / Provincial College (provincial executive body)
	lang}} is sometimes also used to denote a member of parliament.	Chamber of Representatives or a regional parliament
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
Template:Flag	lang}}	Legislative Assemblies
	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
	lang}}	Federal Senate
Template:Flag	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	National Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	Senate of Canada
	Member of Parliament (MP)<ref>"Guide to the Canadian House of Commons: The Role of a Member of Parliament. Parliament of Canada.</ref> / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	House of Commons of Canada
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
	lang}}	Senate
Template:Flag	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	National People's Congress
Template:Flag	lang}}	Departamental Assemblies
Template:Flag	lang}}	Legislative Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	Folketinget
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic
Template:Flag	lang}} (before 2007, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	National Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	Legislative Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	National Assembly
	lang}}	Senate
Template:Flag	lang}}	Bundestag
Template:Flag	lang}}	Congress of the Republic
Template:Flag	People's Deputy	States of Guernsey
Template:Flag	lang}}<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Chamber of Deputies
Template:Flag	lang}}	National Congress
Template:Flag	Member of Parliament	Lok Sabha
Template:Flag	lang}}	Islamic Consultative Assembly
Template:Flagcountry	lang}}	Seanad Éireann
	Teachta Dála (TD)	Dáil Éireann
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
Template:Flag	Deputy	States Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Parliament
Template:Flag	lang}}	Saeima
Template:Flag	lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, or deputy)	Parliament
Template:Flag	lang}} / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
Template:Flag	lang}}	Provincial executive (European Netherlands)
	lang}}	lang}} (Caribbean Netherlands)
Template:Flag	lang}}	National Assembly
Template:Flag	Deputy (Template:Korean)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Supreme People's Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	National Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
Template:Flag	lang}}	Assembly of the Republic
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Deputies
Template:Flag	lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	State Duma and regional legislative bodies
Template:Flag	Deputy	Federal Parliament
Template:Flag	lang}}	Congress of Deputies
Template:THA	lang}})	Senate
	lang}})	House of Representatives
Template:Flag	People's Deputy of Ukraine ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	lang}}
Template:Flag	Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal	House of Lords
	Member of Parliament (MP)	House of Commons
Template:Flag	Senator	Senate
	Representative; Congressperson	House of Representatives
Template:Flag	lang}}	Chamber of Representatives
Template:Flag	lang}}	National Assembly
Template:Flag	lang}}	National Assembly

Substitute legislator

Some legislatures provide each legislator with an official "substitute legislator" (or "alternate") who deputises for the legislator in the legislature if the elected representative is unavailable. Venezuela, for example, provides for substitute legislators ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) to be elected under Article 186 of its 1999 constitution.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ecuador, Panama, and the U.S. state of Idaho also have substitute legislators.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• List of legislatures by country

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Template:Wikiquote-inline