Legislatures

   Legislative assemblies during Portugal's long history have had various names, roles, and functions. Under the precon-stitutional monarchy, various Cortes were convened by the monarch. From 1834 on, the constitutional monarchy usually featured a two-chamber legislature: a House or Chamber of Deputies and a House or Chamber of Peers (Lords). During the First Republic (1910-26), after the 1911 Constitution was drafted and ratified by the Constituent Assembly, the two-chamber legislature was composed of a Chamber of Deputies (or "Congress") and a Senate. The legislature of President Sidónio Pais's "New Republic," which met only briefly, was described as a "Congress." More consultative than law-making, the Estado Novo's legislature met from January 1935 to April 1974 and was composed of a National Assembly and a Corporative Chamber. Since the Revolution of 25 April 1974, Portugal has had a one-chamber legislature called the Assembly of the Republic. The Assembly of the Republic has 230 seats elected from 18 mainland constituencies, one each from the Azores and Madeira, one from Portuguese living in Europe, and one from among Portuguese citizens living in the rest of the world.

   See also Constitutions.