That means scrapping the House of Lords and replacing it with a new, elected second chamber.
It would add a second chamber to Congress, and create a first-past-the-post electoral system.
The counter-argument is that the benefits of a second chamber are not that clear.
Election would give the second chamber a greater legitimacy, and that would give it more clout.
"It is time we reformed this antiquated second chamber, " former Cabinet minister Mr Laws told the BBC.
The government unveiled its plans to replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber last May.
For a government with little interest in an effective second chamber, say sceptics, delay may be an advantage.
MPs are keen to see any shift of power towards the second chamber.
The similarity of the two chambers has prompted some Italians to ask why a second chamber is needed at all.
Peers elected to the second chamber would expect to be paid and enjoy proper working facilities like their colleagues in the Commons.
Indeed, their power to block reform, through their representation in the federal republic's second chamber, the Bundesrat, may nowadays be too much.
On October 14th, Baroness Jay, the Lords leader, announced a Royal Commission to propose changes to the second chamber once hereditary peers have been removed.
It is easy to see where Mr Hague might have gone further: an elected second chamber, say, or support for judicial protection of citizens' rights.
Such obstacles have scuppered previous attempts to revamp the second chamber.
The recommendation is almost certain to be accepted by the government, which is due to publish its plans for a largely elected second chamber in May.
But Lords reform is likely to prove the most hotly-contested measure, with some Conservative MPs likely to fight plans for a smaller and mostly-elected second chamber.
They would meet together - they already do meet together once every six months of so - and they would form, when they met, the second chamber.
Meanwhile a cross-party group, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, is drawing up legislation to replace the existing House of Lords with a mainly elected second chamber.
But, compared with the alternative of a second chamber with real power and real legitimacy, it's a sad end to the hopes and promises of the first term.
Labour peer Lord Lea accused the government of appointing extra peers since coming to power last May to add pressure on the second chamber and make the case for reform.
It is not clear why members of the second chamber elected at the same as members of the European Parliament will, given the turnout in Euro-elections, enjoy notable popular legitimacy.
All Germany's Land barons have big leverage thanks to their seats in the Bundesrat, the second chamber of the Bonn parliament, which can veto some government bills and delay others.
Opening the debate, committee chair Lord Richard said that the members had voted that "a reformed second chamber should have an electoral mandate" with 13 in favour and nine against.
And with it goes the Social Democrats' hope of winning back the majority they recently lost in the Bundesrat, the powerful second chamber of parliament where the states are represented.
Many MPs, especially Tories, worry that a second chamber with an electoral mandate would challenge the primacy of the Commons and substitute Britain's tradition of strong government for American-style legislative gridlock.
MPs will vote for some kind of democratically-elected element, the notion of an entirely-appointed second chamber (not very different from the existing one) will win more support than any of the hybrid options.
So you can see there are various ideas going around this business of having a second chamber but the common theme is that they want people from national governments, national parliaments, to be involved.
But, if proportional representation solves some of the difficulties of not having a second chamber, there is still the problem of stopping the Scottish parliament from tampering with or even gerrymandering its electoral system.
Under, what appears to be, the Schroeder plan - no there wouldn't because the second chamber of the European parliament would actually be the prime ministers of all the member nations of the European Union.
应用推荐