What is the term given to the action of discontinuing a session of a parliament or other legislative assembly without dissolving

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks for the term for ending a session of a legislature without dissolving it. The key phrases are "discontinuing a session" and "without dissolving."

Step 2: Explain the concepts

• Adjournment: A short break in a sitting, such as ending the day's proceedings and resuming the next day or later. It does not end the session.
• Postponement: Delaying an event or meeting to a later time. It is not a formal parliamentary term for ending a session.
• Prorogation: The formal ending of a legislative session by the head of state or the executive, without dissolving the legislature. Members remain in office, and the house reconvenes later in a new session. Pending business is usually discontinued.
• Recess: A temporary break within a session, such as the long vacation or Christmas break. The session itself continues.
• Dissolution: The complete ending of the legislature's life, which leads to new elections. This is what the question says did not happen.

Step 3: Apply to the question The action ends the session itself, not just a sitting or a short break, and the legislature is not dissolved. That matches prorogation.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is C. Prorogation.

Tip: Remember the ladder: Adjournment ends a sitting, Recess is a break within a session, Prorogation ends a session, and Dissolution ends the whole legislature. "Pro-" sounds like "formal pause by the authority," so think of the President or Governor proroguing the house.