observing the Nebraska Legislature, a
partisan. He says that they operate like
49 different political parties.
The Kansas Commission on Constitu-
tional Revision a few years ago expressed
my philosophy on this. They said they
recognized the whole tradition and the
widely varying views that exist; that on
this issue they decided that the effort to
achieve the practicable, less than perfect,
is to be preferred to a vain attempt to
achieve the ideal.
THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
Before recognizing Delegate Hanson we
will pause a few moments to change the
tape.
Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: Mr. Chairman,
I yield three minutes to Delegate Grum-
bacher.
THECHAIRMAN: Delegate Grum-
bacher.
DELEGATE GRUMBACHER: Mr.
Chairman, I have the misfortune of being
rather simple minded. I had been a busi-
nessman all of my life until last spring,
and as 1 see this problem, it is solely one
of accountability. In my experience as a
businessman, I found that in general if you
gave people responsibility and held them
accountable, they would act responsibly.
There is a certain learning theory which
is popularly called reinforced behavior.
Overly simplified, it says that if you re-
ward certain behavior regularly you will
get more of that same behavior.
A bicameral legislature rewards devious-
ness. It enables a legislator to advocate a
vote-getting position for years on end with-
out having a deliver. This reward of devi-
ousness is self-reinforcing, and is the facet
of bicameralism most corruptive of good
government.
As a legislator, I believe that a unicam-
eral legislature will militate against this,
for it will force us to play the game in the
open and the voters can then hold us ac-
countable for our actions.
To put it very briefly, if you make us
accountable, we will then become more re-
sponsible.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Mr. Chair-
man, I yield five minutes to Delegate Bur-
dette. |
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Burdette.
DELEGATE BURDETTE: Mr. Chair-
man, I rise in support of bicameralism.
I do so with the thought of leaving the
approach of mechanics of legislation and
emphasizing the purpose of a legislative
body.
One thinks at first glance that perhaps
a legislative body needs to emphasize effici-
ency of research, important as it is, speed
of action, important as it is, and simplicity
of organization, important as that may be;
but there is an underlying purpose of a
legislative body which is its preeminent
function, the making of laws, and the engi-
neering of consent in the society for which
it is responsible.
The General Assembly of Maryland in
the 20th century, as in few times in its
past, is encountering problems of the first
magnitude. Great societies which have had
difficulty in arranging an engineering of
consent which will acquire general accept-
ance have had a problem of stability.
American institutions, not always stable
but predominantly stable, have benefited
from processes which require long, careful,
much checked legislative procedures, which
are not alone legislative, but which attract
the attention of the public, which attract
debate from the public, and sometime force
delay until the great questions which may
divide a people can be settled with a de-
gree of acceptance and sometimes a degree
of compromise, and which our great bi-
cameral legislatures have been able to do.
The point is sometimes made that mu-
nicipal unicameral legislatures have been
effective in this procedure. On the other
hand, no one makes any point that a mu-
nicipal legislature shares the extent of
sovereignty which a state or the national
legislature holds on behalf of the people,
because we are engaged not in talking
about what law we ought to pass, or how
rapidly we can pass it, but about the
broader subject of how we can discover the
will of the people, and think about it long
enough, even sometimes with delay enough,
to be sure that it is acceptable.
I believe we would make a mistake in
this period of the 20th century to abandon
the bicameral principle.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hanson.
DELEGATE HANSON: Mr. Chairman,
I yield three minutes to Delegate Clagett.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Clagett. |
