To understand the question of what the Senate is, it is important to everyone who is going to delve into world history or social science. After all, this is one of the key bodies of state power, the basis of the democratic system in many countries. This is most often called the upper house of the legislative assembly.
Definition of a concept
From this article you will learn what the Senate is, the history of this public authority. Interestingly, in some countries this name was called not only the parliament, but also the composition of the highest court.
The word "senate" is of Latin origin. It is rooted in the word senex, which literally means "old man." Senate members are expected to be called senators. Linguists claim that the origin of this concept is associated with one of the oldest world forms of social structure in which power originally belonged to the so-called tribal elders.
This concept became generally accepted after the Senate was legislatively executed in Ancient Rome. It was founded in the VI century BC, and ceased to exist in the VI century BC.
What is the Senate, they knew in the Byzantine Empire. There he was called a synclite, lasting until 1204, until the crusaders defeated it.
Very first senate
In ancient Rome, the senate was one of the highest bodies of state power. It was created from among the councils of elders of the patrician clans by the first Roman king, Romulus. Initially, it consisted of about a hundred people.
During the establishment of the republic, the senate was an essential element of public life, along with popular assemblies and magistrates. It was in this authority that the main political forces and statists of Rome were concentrated.
The Senate in Ancient Rome was divided into ranks in strict accordance with the posts held. The princeps, the most honored of the senators, was at the head.
During the existence of the republic, when the struggle between the patricians and plebeians began, the power of the senate was limited.
It is interesting what the Senate is, in Rome they knew even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This body continued to work even under barbarian rule, being influential at the city level. Only in the middle of the VI century, when the noble Roman families became much less, the influence of the Senate came to naught.
The last mention of the existence of the Roman Senate dates back to 603 AD. According to historians, as an organ of supreme state power, it ceased to exist around 630.
Russian experience
The Senate in Russia was established by Peter I in 1711. At the same time, he was directly subordinate to the emperor, but was considered a key body of state power and legislation.
In 1726, the concept of the High Senate appeared. From the beginning of the XIX century, supervisory functions were entrusted to him, members of the Senate directly controlled the work of state institutions. In 1864, the Senate in Russia officially became the highest cassation instance. In 1917, it was dissolved after the victory in the country of the October Revolution.
During peter
The Senate under Peter was little like foreign institutions that existed in neighboring Poland and Sweden at that time, while he sought to meet the conditions of Russian state life of that time.
It is worth recognizing that at that time there was no division in administrative, legislative and judicial affairs in the government of the country, therefore, the Senate sought to solve both these problems and minor current administrative affairs. The terms of reference of the senators were not fully defined and very blurred.
In March 1711, the post of fiscals was established in Russia, which were to secretly oversee everyone, exposing all kinds of crimes. Directly under the senate, the position of chief fiscal was established, and a provincial fiscal with assistants was appointed in each province. There were fiscals in all major cities.
After the adoption of the Table of Ranks, the so-called law on the order of public service in the Russian Empire, which regulated the ratio of ranks of seniority, senators began to be appointed tsar from among military and civilian officials of the first three classes.
Senators work
In the first years of its existence, the main functions of the Senate included maintaining state expenditures and revenues, and controlling the bureaucratic apparatus.
The situation changed somewhat after the creation of the collegiums, then all their chapters entered the Senate, but this order did not last long. Senators were engaged in overseeing all colleges, only the foreign one did not obey them. Over time, the post of Attorney General was introduced, which controlled all the work of the Senate, the Chancellery, and the apparatus, monitored the implementation of all decisions, execution and adoption of sentences. The chief prosecutor and the general prosecutor of the Senate were subordinate only to the emperor, their main function was to monitor the rule of law.
From 1711 to 1714, the Senate was based in Moscow, sometimes temporarily moved to St. Petersburg. Over time, he moved there on a permanent basis.
Since 1714, an official ban began to apply in Russia to complain to the Tsar about the unfair decisions of the Senate. This has become an important innovation. Earlier, the emperor could complain about any institution in the country. Since 1718, the death penalty began to apply for a complaint against the Senate.
Senate after the death of Peter
After the death of Peter I, the position, role and functions of the senate in the public administration system changed radically. During the reign of Catherine II, the Senate lost almost all legislative functions, formally becoming the highest court. The functions of the senate began to perform the proxies of the empress.
In 1802, Alexander I tried to change the rights and obligations of the Senate, but this did not practically affect the real situation. Formally, the decrees of the Senate could influence the draft laws being developed by the government, but the head of state did not use these rights.
The next bureaucratic reform was the approval of ministries, after which the Senate received supervisory functions. The main managerial functions remained with the committee of ministers. It was this body that became the highest executive authority.
Judicial Functions
In 1872, a special presence was created in the Russian Senate, which dealt with judgments about state crimes and illegal communities. So since then it has been called the highest political court in Russia.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the Senate had finally lost the function of the highest state body, having begun to monitor the legitimacy of government officials. In 1906, the Supreme Criminal Court appeared in Russia, which mainly dealt with cases of crimes of large and medium-sized Russian officials.
Finally, the Senate and the Supreme Criminal Court were abolished in 1917.
Neighbors experience
Initially, the experience of creating such a body as the Senate was adopted by Russian officials from neighboring Poland. There, this upper house of parliament has existed since the 16th century. He acted in the Commonwealth.
The appearance of the Senate of Poland was preceded by the completion of the process of registration of the estate monarchy, which took place by the beginning of the XVI century. By 1501, the tycoons had succeeded in transferring power to the senators, and the king actually became only the chairman of this body. In 1505, the Radom Constitution was adopted, which decided to legislate only with the consent of both houses of the Sejm. So royal power was even more limited in favor of the feudal lords.
After the unification of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began to include Catholic bishops, court dignitaries, and high-ranking officials in zemstvos. They became senators for life; they were actually responsible only to the Commonwealth. Moreover, this body mainly had only advisory functions at that time.
In addition, members of the Senate were obliged to control the monarch so that he did not surround himself with unreliable, and also foreign advisers.
Resident senators were part of the body of the Sejm, which functioned on an ongoing basis. These were royal advisers who were required to report to the Sejm. But, ultimately, at that time, the Senate did not become a real institution of government.
In 1791, a new constitution was adopted, the influence of the senate decreased even more. The right of legislative initiative has disappeared, since then the Senate has had only a suspensive veto. Every 25 years, a constitutional diet was convened to discuss the need for a constitutional review. On them, the senate had the functions of the so-called council of elders. At the same time, the opinion of senators was not binding.
Senate in France
The senate plays an important role in the political life of France. This is one of the branches of the legislature, in the upper house of parliament, in which, as a rule, there is no heated political debate, the media pay little attention to the French Senate.
Senators develop legislative acts, participate in meetings of specialized committees, as well as in their subsequent discussion and possible approval at plenary meetings.
US Senators
In America, the Senate is called one of the two houses of Congress, this is the so-called Upper House.
In the United States, the Senate has the exclusive right to hear cases of impeachment. Before considering such precedents, senators are required to take the oath and make a solemn promise to work only for the good of the United States.
The Senate has a large number of temporary and standing committees that perform various goals and functions. In particular, they are considering bills and oversee the activities of the executive branch. There are currently 16 committees in the US Senate that work on an ongoing basis.