In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house[note 1] of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the representatives of the nation."[1] The population base represented by this name is manifestly the nation as a whole, as opposed to a geographically select population, such as that represented by a provincial assembly. The powers of a National Assembly vary according to the type of government. It may possess all the powers of government, generally governing by committee, or it may function solely within the legislative branch of the government.

The name also must be distinguished from the concept. Conceptually such an institution may appear under variety of names, especially if "national assembly" is being used to translate foreign names of the same concept into English. Also, the degree to which the National Assembly speaks for the nation is a variable. To achieve a quorum, the ancient Athenian Assembly employed Scythian police to arrest citizens at random from the street. On the other hand, the early Parliaments of Europe were mainly of an aristocratic composition. The word had its origins and inspirations from the National Assembly that was responsible for drafting a constitution during the French Revolution.

The exact words, "national assembly," have been used prolifically in the international community of nations since the 18th and 19th centuries, considered the Age of Revolution in western Europe. Nations that formed republics in this age subsequently formed empires. Extensive cross-cultural influences brought much of their language and institutions to the provinces. When these empires collapsed finally, the emancipated countries formed states and other institutions on the model of the former imperial nations. Some examples of international influences are as follows:

In Germany, a Nationalversammlung was elected following the revolutions of 1848–1849 and 1918–1919, to be replaced by a permanent parliament (Reichstag) later. The legislature of the Estado Novo regime in Portugal was known as the National Assembly. The national assembly was also defined in the Republic of China constitution. This is different from the Legislative Yuan by the ROC constitution. In 2005, Taiwan revised the constitution and the national assembly was abolished. Examples have multiplied greatly under the policy of self-determination adopted by the western nations. Many more are to be found in the articles listed below.

Origin of the expression

Perhaps the best known National Assembly was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale. Consequently, the name is particularly common in Francophone countries. It was also the name of the legislature during France's Second Republic and the Third Republic, and since 1946 has been the lower house of the French parliament, first under the Fourth Republic, and from 1958, the Fifth Republic.

The expression, however, did not originate in 1789. It was already in use in the French language of the times. Louis XIII of France (1601–1643), par la grace de Dieu Roy de France & de Navarre, in a Declaration of April 14, 1627, concerning the sovereignty of his kingdom, prohibits ministers of foreign countries from any jurisdiction in France, citing, as precedent, his Lettres de Declaration of April 17, 1623, forbidding religious officials from treating with foreign countries. He describes his Declaration as ordonné qu'en Assemblées Provinciales & Nationales des nosdites sujets.[2] This was the "registration" that the Parlement of Paris refused to perform for Louis XVI of France in 1787–1788. When the Estates-General of 1789 formed the National Assembly of 1789, they did not believe they were instituting anything new. In the Assembly of Notables of 1787, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette had used National Assembly and Estates General synonymously when he suggested that France needed a national assembly to solve its financial problems.

National Assembly is also found in some Commonwealth countries. Its use there is not a translation of Assemblée nationale, as the phrase is equally embedded in the English language. For example, at the end of the First English Civil War, an Act of Parliament, 1648, "Concerning the Members of the Classical and Congregational Presbyteries, in the several counties of the Kingdom of England, and Dominion of Wales," establishes a national congregational church in England and Wales, corresponding to the presbyteries of Scotland. The language is: "The National Assembly shall be constituted of members chosen by and sent from the several Provincial Assemblies."[3] This National Assembly appears to have no direct link to any French words, although the concept is the same.

Unicameral national legislatures

CountryArticleLocal Name
AngolaNational Assembly of AngolaAssembleia Nacional
ArmeniaNational Assembly of ArmeniaԱզգային Ժողով (Azgayin Zhoghov)
AzerbaijanNational Assembly of AzerbaijanMilli Məclis
BeninNational Assembly of BeninAssemblée nationale
BhutanNational Assembly of Bhutanརྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཚོགས་འདུ་ (Gyelyong Tshogdu)
BotswanaNational Assembly of Botswana
BulgariaNational Assembly of BulgariaНародно събрание (Narodno Sǎbranie)
Burkina FasoNational Assembly of Burkina FasoAssemblée nationale
CameroonNational Assembly of CameroonAssemblée nationale
Cape VerdeNational Assembly of Cape VerdeAssembleia Nacional
Central African RepublicNational Assembly of the Central African RepublicAssemblée nationale
ChadNational Assembly of ChadAssemblée nationale
CubaNational Assembly of People's PowerAsamblea Nacional del Poder Popular
DjiboutiNational Assembly of DjiboutiAssemblée nationale
EritreaNational Assembly of Eritreaሃገራዊ ባይቶ (Hagerawi Baito)
GambiaNational Assembly of Gambia
GuineaNational Assembly of GuineaAssemblée nationale
Guinea-BissauNational People's Assembly of Guinea-BissauAssembleia Nacional Popular da Guiné-Bissau
GuyanaNational Assembly of Guyana
HungaryNational Assembly of HungaryOrszággyűlés
Ivory CoastNational Assembly of Ivory CoastAssemblée nationale
KuwaitNational Assembly of Kuwaitمجلس الامة (Majlis al-ʾUmma al-Kuwaytiyy)
LaosNational Assembly of Laos ສະພາແຫ່ງຊາດ (Sapha Heng Xat)
MalawiNational Assembly of Malawi
MaliNational Assembly of MaliAssemblée nationale
MauritiusNational Assembly of MauritiusAssemblée nationale
NicaraguaNational Assembly of NicaraguaAsamblea Nacional
NigerNational Assembly of NigerAssemblée nationale
North KoreaSupreme People's Assembly최고인민회의 (Choego Inmin Hoe-ui)
PanamaNational Assembly of PanamaAsamblea Nacional de Panamá
Saint Kitts and NevisNational Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis
São Tomé and PríncipeNational Assembly of São Tomé and PríncipeAssembleia Nacional
SenegalNational Assembly of SenegalAssemblée nationale
SerbiaNational Assembly of SerbiaНародна скупштина Србије (Narodna skupština Srbije)
SeychellesNational Assembly of SeychellesLasanble Nasyonal
South KoreaNational Assembly of the Republic of Korea국회 (Gukhoe)
SudanNational Assembly of Sudan المجلس الوطني السوداني (Al-Maǧlis al-Waṭaniy)
SurinameNational Assembly of SurinameNationale Assemblée
TanzaniaNational Assembly of TanzaniaBunge la Tanzania
TogoNational Assembly of TogoAssemblée nationale
TurkeyGrand National Assembly of TurkeyTürkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi
VenezuelaNational Assembly of VenezuelaAsamblea Nacional
VietnamNational Assembly of the Socialist Republic of VietnamQuốc hội nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam
ZambiaNational Assembly of Zambia

Lower house of bicameral national legislature

CountryArticleLocal Name
AlgeriaPeople's National Assembly al-Majlis al-Sha'abi al-Watani (Arabic: المجلس الشعبي الوطني)/Asqamu Aɣerfan Aɣelnaw (Berber)/Assemblée populaire nationale (French)
BhutanNational Assembly of Bhutanའབྲུག་གི་རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཚོགས་འདུ་ (Druk gi gyel yong tshok du)
BurundiNational Assembly of Burundi Assemblée nationale
CambodiaNational Assembly of Cambodiaរដ្ឋសភាកម្ពុជា (Rodsaphea)
Congo (DRC)National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the CongoAssemblée nationale
Congo (Rep.)National Assembly of the Republic of the CongoAssemblée nationale
FranceNational Assembly of FranceAssemblée nationale
IrelandAssembly of Ireland Dáil Éireann
Ivory CoastNational Assembly of Ivory CoastAssemblée nationale
KenyaNational Assembly of Kenya
GabonNational Assembly of GabonAssemblée nationale
LesothoNational Assembly of LesothoLekhotleng la Sechaba
MadagascarNational Assembly of MadagascarAntenimieram-Pirenena
MauritaniaNational Assemblyالجمعية الوطنية (Arabic)/Assemblée nationale (French)
NamibiaNational Assembly of Namibia
PakistanNational Assembly of Pakistanایوانِ زیریں

(Aiwān-e-Zairīñ)/قومی اسمبلی (Qọ̄mī Assembly)

SloveniaNational Assembly of SloveniaDržavni zbor
South AfricaNational Assembly of South Africa

Upper house of bicameral national legislature

CountryArticleLocal Name
TajikistanNational Assembly of TajikistanMajlisi Milliy
NepalNational Assembly of NepalRāṣṭriya sabhā

Entire bicameral legislature

CountryArticleLocal Name
BahrainNational Assembly of Bahrainالمجلس الوطني البحريني (al-Majlis al-Watani)
BelarusNational Assembly of BelarusNacyjanalny schod Respubliki Bielaruś (Belarusian: Нацыянальны сход) / Natsionalnoye sobran'ye Respubliki Belarus' (Russian: Национальное собрание)
BelizeNational Assembly of Belize
HaitiNational Assembly of HaitiAssemblée nationale
NigeriaNational Assembly of Nigeria
RussiaFederal Assembly of the Russian FederationФедеральное Собрание (Federalnoye Sobraniye)
SwitzerlandFederal Assembly of the Swiss ConfederationBundesversammlung (German) / Assemblée fédérale (French) / Assemblea federale (Italian) / Assamblea federala (Romansh)
ThailandNational Assembly of Thailandรัฐสภา (Ratthasapha)

Historical

Country/TerritoryNamePeriodNotes
Batavian Republic,
Netherlands
National Assembly of the Batavian Republic:
- First National Assembly
- Second National Assembly
1 March 1796 – 31 August 1797
1 September 1797 – 22 January 1798 (coup)
Republic of ChinaNational Assembly (Beiyang government)
National Assembly of the Republic of China
1913 – 1925
1947 – 2005
Congress (Beiyang)
Defunct constitutional convention
EstoniaRahvuskogu1937Constituent assembly
Germany ("Weimar Republic")Weimar National Assembly1919 – 1920
NepalNational Assembly of Nepal1990 – 1997
PhilippinesNational Assembly of Representatives
National Assembly of the Philippines
National Assembly of the Second Philippine Republic
1898 – 1899
1935 – 1941
25 September 1943 – 2 February 1944
Portugal National Assembly of Portugal 1933 – 1974 During Estado Novo dictatorship

Other historical

Country/TerritoryNameLocal NamePeriodNotes
AfghanistanNational Assembly of Afghanistanملی شورا (Pashto: Mili Shura) / شورای (Dari: Shura-e Milli)2004-2019Dissolved by the Taliban
IraqNational Assembly of Iraq2004 – 2005A constitutional convention
WalesNational Assembly for WalesCynulliad Cenedlaethol CymruJuly 1, 1999 – May 6, 2020Can make Acts of the Assembly and Delegated legislation;
The title 'National Assembly' was formerly used to refer to the Welsh devolved unicameral legislature until 6 May 2020,

when it was renamed to a parliament, "the Welsh Parliament" or the direct Welsh translation "Senedd Cymru" (simply as Senedd)

Other

Country/TerritoryNameLocal NameNotes
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland AssemblyTionól Thuaisceart ÉireannCan make Acts of the Assembly and Delegated legislation
Quebec, CanadaNational Assembly of QuebecAssemblée nationale du QuébecA unicameral provincial legislative assembly
Republika SrpskaNational Assembly (Republika Srpska)Народна скупштина Републике Српске (Narodna Skupština Republike Srpske)Autonomous entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

See also

Notes

  1. Nepal and Tajikistan being the exception, with their National Assembly as the higher houses of bicameral Parliament

References

  1. Merriam-Webster (1986). Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged with Seven Language Dictionary. Vol. II H to R. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
  2. Le Gentil, Jean (1675). Recueil des actes, titres et mémoires, concernant les affaires du clergé de France, augmenté d'un grand nombre de Pieces, & mis en nouvel ordre. Vol. VI. Paris: Frederic Leonard. p. 731.
  3. Davies, John; Dancer, John (1661). The civil warres of Great Britain and Ireland: containing an exact history of their occasion, originall, progress, and happy end. London: Printed by R.W. for Philip Chetwind. p. 238.
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