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Legislatures are vital institutions at the heart of any democracy. They not only enact laws and approve budgets, but also act as representative and deliberative assemblies, and as bodies that scrutinize and oversee the actions of the executive. In order to perform these functions effectively, legislatures need to be organized, in terms of their internal leadership, their committee structures, and the rules by which they transact public business.

In recent years, the debate about lowering the voting age has intensified in many countries. Typically, young people around the world can head to the polls between 16 and 18 years of age, although some nations like Singapore and Taiwan set the age at 21 and 20, respectively.