The Reichsrat consisted of members appointed by the German states and participated in legislation affecting all constitutional changes and state competences, whereas the Reichstag was the legislative body dealing with both these issues and all other issues and was elected by the people. In other words, the Reichsrat functioned similarly to a parliamentary upper house, such as the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, although the Weimar constitution did not specifically spell out a bicameral parliament. The Reichsrat was the successor body to the Bundesrat of the German Empire (1867–1918), which was a more formalized[clarification needed] upper house.[2]