Western societies seem also to have experienced secularization. Furthermore,
all religions, including Christianity, seem to have at least withstood secularizing
tendencies, if not actually to have increased in popularity, in many non-
Western societies. The main criticism, is that other measurements, such as
the percentage of people in surveys claiming to believe in God, do not show
the near collapse of traditional religion that external and objective measures
indicate. An apparent glaring exception to secularization as a pervasive trend
apparently endemic to modern industrial society is the continuing high rate of
religious observance in the USA. As most of the sociological theory that
predicted secularization links it to the nature of advanced industrial society,
American ‘exceptionalism’ requires an explanation that has not been consen-
sually forthcoming.
Senates
Senates aresecond chambersof a legislature. Originally senates, deriving
from ideas about the Roman Senate in republican times, were seen as bodies
especially constituted of the oldest, ablest and wisest people able to transcend
the petty and partisan strife of ordinary politics and look more directly to the
public interest. Partly for this reason they are, or were, often indirectly elected
by an electoral college. There is still often a sense of the Senate being more
distanced from partisanship. They are usually much smaller bodies than the
lower house, and a sense of collegiality can prevail to make something real out
of an otherwise anachronistic ideal. In most cases senates are elected on a
different franchise from the lower house and have different powers within the
legislative process. In Italy and France the role of the Senate is secondary to the
more important lower house which is seen as the embodiment of the popular
political will.
Senates are frequently used in federal systems (seefederalism), where it is
thought constitutionally desirable to ensure that the territorial units of the
federation are represented as well as the individual citizens, and where safe-
guards against simple majority rule need to be built into the system. In the
USA the Senate represents the 50 states equally and has frequently been seen as
the more important legislative body. Certainly the US Senate has retained
formidable powers in such areas as foreign policy and the confirmation of
major presidential appointments, and its members have much more political
prominence than the 435 members of the House of Representatives. A US
senator is elected for a six-year term and thus enjoys more security of tenure
than a counterpart in the House.
Senates