Parliament

A parliament is a form of legislature on either the national or provincial level. While the makeup and constitution of parliaments vary, they are generally composed of democratically elected representatives (most commonly called MPs, or members of parliament). A prime minister usually leads the parliament, or its lower house, and forms a government that relies on the confidence of the house to function. If the government loses the house's confidence, new elections are called.

In a parliamentary system the lower house usually wields the most power. Such systems have a head of state with limited power (either a monarch, president, or similarly titled official), who formally calls parliamentary elections and chooses the prime minister. In many countries these duties are purely ceremonial, with the head of state traditionally deferring to the party leader who wins the election.

Many parliaments are unicameral, or have only one house. Upper houses in bicameral parliaments generally exercise their limited power as a means of oversight.