In the United Kingdom and Canada the House of Commons is the name of the elected lower house of the bicameral parliament. In both states the Commons generally holds much more power than the upper house (the House of Lords or the Senate of Canada). The leader of the majority party in the House of Commons usually becomes the prime minister.
Originally, "the commons" were an Estate of the realm in pre-Enlightenment European politics, which typically divided the governance of an area between "estates" of society. The commons represented commoners, for example craft guilds, burghers and tenants, as opposed to landowners and the establishment. Other estates included the prelates, nobles, merchants and knights. The word "commons" has at times been confused with the word "commoner", but they are very different in this context. The House of Commons was created to serve as the political outlet for this "commons" class, while the elite estates were represented in the House of Lords. The House of Commons was thus elected by the people while members of the upper house were appointed on the basis of various forms of merit, such as family lineage or service to the realm. It is widely thought that "Commons" is a shortening of the word "commoners". However, the term derives from the Anglo-Norman word communes, meaning "localities".
Specific bodies
Though it is common to associate the title of "House of Commons" with the Westminster system in general, in practice only two states actually use the title. They are:
Three historical bodies have used this name in Ireland as well, they are:
By the late 19th Century the term was already thought to be somewhat dated and classist. As a result, all other subsequent self-governing colonies (and later Commonwealth realms) chose to use the name "House of Representatives" or a similar title.
See also
