Belgium
bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate or Senaat in
Dutch, Senat in French (71 seats; 40 members directly elected by
popular vote, 31 indirectly elected; members serve four-year terms)
and a Chamber of Deputies or Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers in
Dutch, Chambre des Representants in French (150 seats; members
directly elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional
representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate and Chamber of Deputies - last held on 13 June
2010 (next to be held no later than June 2014)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - N-VA 19.6%, PS
13.6%, CD&V 10%, sp.a 9.5%, MR 9.3%, Open VLD 8.2%, VB 7.6%, Ecolo
5.5%, CDH 5.1% Groen! 3.9%, other 7.7%; seats by party - N-VA 9, PS
7, CD&V 4, sp.a 4, MR 4, Open VLD 4, VB 3, Ecolo 2, CDH 2, Groen! 1;
Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - N-VA 17.4%, PS
13.7%, CD&V 10.9%, MR 9.3%, sp.a 9.2%, Open VLD 8.6%, VB 7.8%, CDH
5.5%, Ecolo 4.8%, Groen! 4.4%, List Dedecker 2.3%, the Popular Party
1.3%, other 4.8%; seats by party - N-VA 27, PS 26, CD&V 17, MR 18,
sp.a 13, Open VLD 13, VB 12, CDH 9, Ecolo 8, Groen! 5, List Dedecker
1, the Popular Party 1
note: as a result of the 1993 constitutional revision that furthered
devolution into a federal state, there are now three levels of
government (federal, regional, and linguistic community) with a
complex division of responsibilities; this reality leaves six
governments, each with its own legislative assembly
Belize
bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (12 seats;
members appointed by the governor general - 6 on the advice of the
prime minister, 3 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and
1 each on the advice of the Belize Council of Churches and
Evangelical Association of Churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce
and Industry and the Belize Better Business Bureau, and the National
Trade Union Congress and the Civil Society Steering Committee; to
serve five-year terms) and the House of Representatives (31 seats;
members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held on 6 February 2008
(next to be held in 2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - UDP 56.3%, PUP 40.9%;
seats by party - UDP 25, PUP 6
Benin
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (83 seats;
members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 31 March 2007 (next to be held by March 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -
FCBE 35, ADD 20, PRD 10, other and independents 18
Bermuda
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (11 seats;
members appointed by the governor, the premier, and the opposition)
and the House of Assembly (36 seats; members are elected by popular
vote to serve up to five-year terms)
elections: last general election held on 18 December 2007 (next to
be held not later than 2012)
election results: percent of vote by party - PLP 52.5%, UBP 47.3%;
seats by party - PLP 22, UBP 14
Bhutan
bicameral Parliament consists of the non-partisan National
Council (25 seats; 20 members elected by each of the 20 electoral
districts (dzongkhags) for four-year terms and 5 members nominated
by the King); and the National Assembly (47 seats; members elected
by direct, popular vote for five-year terms)
elections: National Council elections last held on 31 December 2007
and 29 January 2008 (next to be held by December 2012); National
Assembly elections last held on 24 March 2008 (next to be held by
March 2013)
election results: National Council - NA; National Assembly - percent
of vote by party - DPT 67%, PDP 33%; seats by party - DPT 45, PDP 2
Bolivia
bicameral Plurinational Legislative Assembly or Asamblea
Legislativa Plurinacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara
de Senadores (36 seats; members are elected by proportional
representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and
Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats total; 70
uninominal deputies directly elected from a single district, 7
"special" indigenous deputies directly elected from non-contiguous
indigenous districts, and 53 plurinominal deputies elected by
proportional representation from party lists; all deputies serve
five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held
on 6 December 2009 (next to be held in 2014)
election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party -
NA; seats by party - MAS 26, PPB-CN 10; Chamber of Deputies -
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 89, PPB-CN 36,
UN 3, AS 2
Bosnia and Herzegovina
bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina
consists of the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats, 5 Bosniak,
5 Croat, 5 Serb; members elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's
House of Peoples and the Republika Srpska's National Assembly to
serve four-year terms); and the state-level House of Representatives
or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats, 28 seats allocated for the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats for the Republika
Srpska; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional
representation to serve four-year terms); note - Bosnia's election
law specifies four-year terms for the state and first-order
administrative division entity legislatures
elections: House of Peoples - last constituted in February 2007
(next to be constituted in 2011); state-level House of
Representatives - elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be
held in October 2014)
election results: House of Peoples - percent of vote by
party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - NA; state-level
House of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA;
seats by party/coalition - SDP BiH 8, SDA 7, SNSD 7, SDS 5, SBBBiH
4, HDZ-BiH 3, SBiH 2, HDZ-1990/HSP 2, other 4
note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that
consists of a House of Peoples (58 seats - 17 Bosniak, 17 Croat, 17
Serb, 7 other); last constituted February 2007; and a House of
Representatives (98 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms); elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be
held in October 2014); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party/coalition - SDP 28, SDA 23, SBBBiH 13, HDZ-BiH 12,
HDZ-1990/HSP 5, other 17; the Republika Srpska has a National
Assembly (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms); elections last held on 3 October 2010 (next to be
held in October 2014); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party/coalition - SNSD 37, SDS 18, PDP 7, DNS 6, SP 4, DP 3, SDP 3,
SDA 2, NDS 2 SRS-RS 1; as a result of the 2002 constitutional reform
process, a 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples (COP) was
established in the Republika Srpska National Assembly including 8
Croats, 8 Bosniaks, 8 Serbs, and 4 members of the smaller communities
Botswana
bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Chiefs (a
largely advisory 15-member body with 8 ex-officio members consisting
of the chiefs of the principal tribes, and 7 non-permanent members
serving 5-year terms, consisting of 4 elected subchiefs and 3
members selected by the other 12 members) and the National Assembly
(63 seats; 57 members directly elected by popular vote, 4 appointed
by the majority party, and 2, the President and Attorney General,
serve as ex-officio members; members serve five-year terms)
elections: National Assembly elections last held on 16 October 2009
(next to be held in 2014)
election results: percent of vote by party - BDP 53.3%, BNF 21.9%,
BCP 19.2%, 2.3%, other 4.3%; seats by party - BDP 45, BNF 6, BCP 4,
BAM 1, other 1
Brazil
bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of
the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; 3 members from each
state and federal district elected according to the principle of
majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third and two-thirds of
members elected every four years, alternately) and the Chamber of
Deputies or Camara dos Deputados (513 seats; members are elected by
proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Federal Senate - last held on 3 October 2010 for
two-thirds of the Senate (next to be held in October 2014 for
one-third of the Senate); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 3
October 2010 (next to be held in October 2014)
election results: Federal Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - PMDB 20, PT 13, PSDB 10, DEM (formerly PFL) 7,
PTdoB 6, PP 5, PDT 4, PR 4, PSB 4, PPS 1, PRB 1, other 3; Chamber of
Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PT 87,
PMDB 80, PSDB 53, DEM (formerly PFL) 43, PP 41, PR 41, PSB 34, PDT
28, PTdoB 21, PSC 17, PCdoB 15, PV 15, PPS 12, other 18
British Virgin Islands
unicameral House of Assembly (13 elected
seats and 1 non-voting ex officio member in the attorney general;
members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of
nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; members serve
four-year terms)
elections: last held on 20 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - VIP 45.2%, NDP 39.6%,
independent 15.2%; seats by party - VIP 10, NDP 2, independent 1