in democracies, the people in a country usually choose people called politicians to represent them in a legislature. examples of legislatures include the houses of parliament in london, the congress in washington, d.c., the bundestag in berlin, the duma in moscow and the assemblée nationale in paris. most legislatures have two chambers or houses, a 'lower house' and an 'upper house'. to pass legislation, a majority of members of parliament must vote for a bill in each house. the legislature is the branch of government that writes laws, and votes on whether they will be approved.