what is a bicameral legislature 
a bicameral legislature is a two house legislative system such as the house of representatives and the senate that make up the u s congress the word bicameral is derived from the latin bi meaning two and camera meaning chamber the british parliament a bicameral system has been the model for most parliamentary systems around the world a bicameral system can be contrasted with a unicameral system in which all members of the legislature deliberate and vote as a single group the legislative branch of the u s federal government uses a bicameral system in addition to all of the u s states with the exception of nebraska u s cities by contrast commonly use the unicameral system 