What does the Virginia Plan propose?

The Virginia Plan proposes a bicameral legislative branch, which consists of two separate chambers or houses. This plan was introduced during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and emphasized the need for a stronger national government with a system that included representation based on state population.

The idea of a bicameral legislature was significant because it aimed to balance the interests of larger states, which would have more representatives due to their larger populations, with those of smaller states. This proposal ultimately led to the Great Compromise, which created a two-house Congress consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

In context, the other options represent differing governance structures: a unicameral legislative branch would have just one chamber, which was not what the Virginia Plan suggested; a federal system of government indicates a division of powers between national and state governments but does not specifically focus on the structure of the legislature; and a parliamentary system describes a governance model where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from, and is directly accountable to, the legislature, which contrasts with the model proposed in the Virginia Plan.