Which house bases membership on equality?

• A. Parliament
• B. Council
• C. House of Representatives
• D. Senate

Answer: (D)

In bicameral systems, one chamber is designed to give equal weight to each political unit, so every state or province has the same influence regardless of its population. The Senate is that chamber: each state has the same number of representatives (for example, two senators per state in the United States), so small and large states alike have an equal voice. The other chamber typically bases its membership on population, so representation grows with the number of people. That makes the House of Representatives population-based, not equal-based. Parliament and Council aren’t the specific upper or lower chamber defined by equal representation in most federations, so they don’t fit as the equal-representation house.