Tricameralism

Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted to unicameralism and bicameralism, both of which are far more common.

The term was used in South Africa to describe the Parliament established under the apartheid regime's new South African Constitution of 1983. Other instances of tricameral legislatures in history include Simón Bolívar's model state. The word could also describe the French Estates-General, which had three 'estates'.

In 1983, South Africa's apartheid government put forward a constitution providing for a tricameral legislature. On 2 November, around seventy percent of the country's white population voted in favour of the changes – black South Africans were not consulted, and under the proposal they continued to be denied representation since in theory they were citizens of independent or autonomous bantustans.

The South African tricameral parliament consisted of three race-based chambers:

The creation of the tricameral parliament was controversial on two fronts. On the one hand, many white conservatives disliked the idea of non-whites participating in Parliament at all. The dispute was a factor in the creation of the Conservative Party, a breakaway from the dominant National Party. On the other hand, many coloureds and Asians rejected the system as a sham, saying that the chambers reserved for them were powerless.

The tricameral parliament was not particularly strong. The 1983 constitution significantly weakened the powers of parliament, and abolished the position of Prime Minister. Most authority was transferred to the State President, including the ability to appoint the Cabinet. This was seen by many as an attempt to limit the power of coloureds and Indians – not only were the 'non-white' Houses of Parliament less powerful than the 'white' one, but parliament itself was subordinate to a white President.

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