User:Aman Mondal

Introduction

Both US and Indian constitution provide for bicameral legislature their lower houses are known as House of Representatives and Lok Sabha, whereas upper houses are known as Senate and Rajya Sabha respectively. In bicameral legislature, the upper house is setup to provide representation to the states and to prevent any hasty decisions by the lower house. In USA, the upper house of Congress is known as Senate, whereas in India such body is called Rajya Sabha.

•Comparison between Indian Rajya Sabha and US Senate

1.Election method:- Members of Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected. They are elected by the legislatures of the state government. They do not have direct representation of the people. Opposite of this The US Senators are in fact directly elected by the citizens of the state. Hence, they have direct support and approval of the people.

2.Composition:- Sabha members where each State’s representation depends upon population. More populated state get a louder voice and hence rules of majority is very common. EX - Have 30 members but Nagaland have just one. Rajya Sabha states representation according to population, 12 nominated by the President. Vice president has tie-break vote. So, executive can influence total 13 votes. Making India as unequal federalism. Opposite of this the US Senate equal representation to all states irrespective of size or population. This means that both small states and large states get two Members 2 members from each state x 50 = 100 members. No nominated members. Vice president gets tie breaker vote. So, executive can influence only 1 vote in the Rajya Sabha- that too only during the tie. US an equal federalism.

3.Power:- Rajya sabha in comparison no control over the Budget, except for a “ delaying” point. Rajya Sabha doesn’t have power to reject Budget, at maximum it can delay the Budget for 14 days. On the contrary The US Senate has almost Complete control over the Budget. Finance bill, appropriation bill originate in the lower house but must be passed by Senate separately.

4.Compactness:- Rajya sabha has 250 members from different States and US Senate have 50 states And thus 100 Senate members. Rajya sabha members may not get enough time to speak. Plus, more people always lead to more choices. One can say that both houses are similar merely in the fact that they are “ Upper Houses” and represent state Interests. But they radically differ in the context Of powers, functions nuanced implications Of the same.

5.Representation :- each member of the senate represents Says the half of the state He/ she elected from. Hence, they have more voter backing. The Rajya sabha on the other hand, represent a smaller number and hence has a smaller voter backing. The Rajya Sabha is the upper House of the Indian Legislature and the Senate is the Upper House of the American Legislature. These Housed represent the states while lower houses in both legislatures represent constituencies.

The Representatives of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the State Legislative assemblies indirectly with the system of Proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The members of Senate are elected directly by the citizens of State. The seats in the Rajya Sabha are allotted on the basis of the population while the seats in Senate are allotted two members from each state irrespective of the size of the population. The Senate is relatively Powerful in comparison to Rajya Sabha. The strength of Rajya Sabha is greater than the Senate.

Conclusion

American federalism is a result of the agreement among the states. Therefore, to provide adequate strength / effective checks and balances to the states against the Union Executive, their senate is given more powers than any upper house in the world -including Rajya Sabha of India.