The Thicket at State Legislatures

California Civic Health Index

by Jan Goehring

Californians have cut back on civic engagement in the last year and are suffering a "civic recession" according to the California Civic Health Index 2009 report released by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC). Nearly three in four residents report cutting back on volunteering, participating in groups or doing other civic activities. During this economic downturn, people are turning inward and watching out for themselves.

Confidence in state government is dwindling. Only 22 percent of respondents say they have a great deal of confidence in state government. When it comes to policies to support civic renewal, respondents rated government-paid tuition for public service as a top choice followed by a civics test.

The NCoC tracks, measures and promotes civic participation and published America's Civic Health Index 2009. The organization previously released civic health index reports for Illinois, New Hampshire, Florida, Minnesota and Ohio.  

Learn Civics Online

by Jan Goehring

The Internet offers a wealth of sites for learning about civics and government. Through daily quizzes, interactive games and other tools, you can explore all sorts of great information. Here are just a few examples.

Do you already know a lot about civics? Then test your knowledge with the daily civics quiz offered by the Center for Civic Education. A one-minute podcast explains the answer to each daily quiz. For example, did you know that the Massachusetts Body of Liberties of 1641 was America's first Bill of Rights?

Are you interested in the U.S. Constitution? Then check out the Interactive Constitution that allows you to search the text of the document by keyword, topic and select Supreme Court cases. It's one of many tools offered by the National Constitution Center.  

The Center on Congress at Indiana University has developed e-learning modules to educate website visitors about Congress. You can try your hand at balancing the federal budget or find out about the many roles of a member of Congress.

Our Courts, a web-based education project inspired by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, encourages students to learn about the U.S. Supreme Court and to become active citizens. Try out their new games, "Do I Have a Right?" and "Supreme Decision."

Civic learning has made its way to YouTube as well. For example, NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy has posted a series of public service announcements about our system of American democracy called "Am I Missing Something?" In these videos, young students talk about making their voices heard, compromise and special interests.  

Civic Health Index for New Hampshire and Illinois

by Jan Goehring

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) just released reports about the civic health of New Hampshire and Illinois. New Hampshire civic health is strong, but Illinois citizens seem to be withdrawing from civic engagement.

Findings from the New Hampshire Civic Health Index show that the state has a high level of civic engagement. Residents are more likely than "Americans as a whole to volunteer, to belong to civic groups, to attend community meetings, and to work with others in their neighborhood to solve community problems. They have a positive view of the state’s civic tradition, they pay attention to public affairs, they get involved in political, social and community issues, they take voting seriously, and have high regard for the active role of citizens in the political and governing process."

While the economy has had some impact, New Hampshire citizens are willing to help one another. However, in this downturn, they are skeptical of government decision-making and have little confidence in financial institutions, companies, organized labor, media and Congress. State residents tend to be more knowledgeable about civics and government than average Americans, but there is still a gap in their understanding of legislative processes.

The Illinois Civic Health Index indicates that residents of the state are disappointed and disengaged. Recent political scandals and the economy have taken a toll. Only 15 percent of residents say they trust state government to do what is right most of the time. Possibly even more concerning is the finding that 77 percent of those aged 15 - 29 report declining interest or involvement in civic education.

On the up side, Illinois citizens strongly support federal legislation to improve civic education in schools. 

The NCoC tracks, measures and promotes civic participation. It published America's Civic Health Index 2009. The organization previously released civic health index reports for Ohio, Minnesota and Florida. The California Civic Health Index will be out soon.  

A Complementarity of Powers

by Karl Kurtz

At a workshop for Algerian parliamentarians last week, our faculty team was emphasizing the separation of powers in the American system of government.  An attorney for the Algerian Council of Nations (Senate) spoke up and said, "In Algeria, we have a complementarity of powers instead of a separation of powers."  In saying this, she was recognizing the strong authority of the executive branch in Algerian government but suggesting that the parliament supplements the work of the executive and makes it more effective.

Her comment was clearly aimed at the Algerian system of government.  But the more I reflected on the "complementarity of powers", the more I liked how the phrase captures much of the reality of the relationship between branches of government in our American separation of powers system. The legislative, executive and judicial branches of government often complement each other, perhaps more than they compete.

Two small examples of ways in which the legislative and executive branches of government collaborate came up in our workshop with the Algerians.  Minnesota Senate counsel Peter Wattson answered a question about the effective date of new laws by saying that Minnesota has a default effective date of August 1 but that executive agencies, bill authors, committees and staff often communicate about the most appropriate effective date and negotiate a change.  Gary Vanlandingham, director of Florida's OPPAGA, pointed out that legislative program reviews of executive agencies are not designed to embarrass the agencies but rather to help them strengthen their programs.

Would you Let the KKK into your Town Hall Meeting?

by Karl Kurtz

Lee Hamilton has another excellent Commentary on Congress, "Whatever their Tone, We Need Town Hall Meetings."  It begins:

Years ago, when I was still in Congress, I pulled up one day to address a public meeting in a remote and very rural part of Indiana. The sheriff, a friend of mine, met me outside the small volunteer fire house where I was to speak. "The Ku Klux Klan is here in full regalia," he told me. "If you'd like, I'll keep them out of your meeting."

For just a second, I'll confess, I weighed his offer. But I was not in the business of trying to keep constituents out of public gatherings — even if they were in the KKK. No, I told my friend, the Klansmen could come in, as long as they removed their hoods. There's no place for anonymity in a public meeting, I said.

And so about twenty-five of them — hoodless — marched down the aisle made by the rickety folding chairs set up in the tiny firehouse and took their places in the front. Was this or was this not a Christian nation, they demanded. And what did I think about Jewish influence in Hollywood and on the media? I responded calmly, but their persistent overtones of anti-Semitism wore out the audience's patience. Eventually they left, and the meeting continued.

And concludes:

Over my years in Congress, I conducted hundreds, if not thousands, of town-hall meetings. Almost every time I came away with the feeling that this was precisely what I was meant to be doing — engaging with my constituents in a small part of the dialogue of democracy. Just as often, these meetings reinforced my confidence in the fairness, decency and judgment of the American people.

I've been in Algeria for the last week with a team of legislators and staff, leading a couple of workshops for Algerian legislators.  One of our topics was citizen engagement and  constituent communication. We emphasized the importance of town hall meetings and talked about how to set them up.  We have a great team here, consisting of North Dakota Rep. Rae Ann Kelsch, New Jersey Assemblymember Upendra Chivikula, Minnesota Senate legislative counsel Peter Wattson, Florida policy research director Gary Vanlandingham, and NCSL's Christy Delafield.  They did a great job of carrying Lee Hamilton's point, but after reading his commentary, I wished that he had been here with us to tell this story.

See our previous postings in The Thicket about town hall meetings starting with "Town Hall Meetings: Building Trust Online."

Bipartisan Beltway Committee Seeks to “Modernize” U.S. Election System

by Tom Intorcio

Voter registration can sometimes be a highly charged and partisan issue, so it is worth noting that advisers from recent Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns have recently aligned themselves to propose a new system. Trevor Potter, former general counsel to Republican John McCain’s 2008 campaign and Mark Elias, general counsel to Democrat John Kerry’s 2004 campaign are co-chairs of the Committee to Modernize Voter Registration.

The group is “dedicated to bringing the voter registration system into the 21st century by automating the outmoded system that relies on paper forms being filled out by voters and manually processed by local election officials,” according to its inaugural press release. Specifically, the Committee proposes: automated (universal) registration, within a “portable” system to obviate the need to re-register after a voter moves, and a “fail-safe mechanism” for any Election Day problems. Ostensibly, the fail-safe component would be same-day registration, currently used in nine states. A recent story by Pam Fessler of NPR’s All Things Considered gives more background on the 13-member Committee.

Civic Education and 21st Century Skills

by Jan Goehring

A new report shows that effective civic learning builds 21st century skills that are key to students' success in college, career and citizenship. The study, Paths to 21st Century Competencies Through Civic Education Classrooms, was sponsored by the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools and the American Bar Association, Division for Public Education.

The study examined survey data from a nationally representative sample of ninth graders. Civic education, especially when it is interactive and involves discussion of current issues, is an important way to develop skills that young people will need to succeed. Some of these 21st century skills include working with others, especially in diverse groups, and knowledge of economics and political processes.

Top Ten for Back to School Program

by Jan Goehring

Each summer, NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy collects information about how many legislators participated in the America's Legislators Back to School Program the previous school year. The program encourages legislators to visit classrooms and bring civics to life for students all across the country. Each year an average of 1,200 state lawmakers are involved. The charts below show the top ten legislatures and chambers in 2008 - 09. Massachusetts and Utah tied for the state with the highest percentage of legislators participating. The Pennsylvania House and Louisiana and Massachusetts Senate chambers reached 100 percent involvement.

Top Ten Legislatures	Percentage
Utah & Massachusetts	94%
Virginia	91%
Pennsylvania	80%
Nebraska	71%
Alaska	60%
Hawaii	58%
New Jersey	57%
Mississippi	54%
Nevada	40%
Arizona	37%

Top Ten House	Top Ten Senate
Pennsylvania - 100%	Louisiana & Massachusetts - 100%
Utah & Massachusetts - 93%	Utah - 97%
Virginia - 91%	Virginia - 93%
New Jersey - 64%	Nebraska - 71%
Hawaii - 61%	Nevada - 57%
Kentucky - 35%	Hawaii - 52%
Nevada - 31%	New Jersey & New Mexico - 43%
Washington - 29%	Oklahoma - 40%
Maryland - 26%	Wyoming - 33%
Wyoming - 25%	Michigan - 26%

Town Hall Meetings: Building Trust Online

by Pam Greenberg

Participants in a series of online town hall meetings with members of Congress reported significantly improved trust, agreement, and satisfaction with government.  These online meetings, according to a new report by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF)  and a team of academic partners, also found that Internet town hall meetings improved constituents’ approval ratings of members of Congress and increased their probability of voting for the member.   

CMF conducted most of the online town hall meetings with small groups of 15-25 constituents, but one with a group of nearly 200 constituents.  The sessions involved a moderator and a Member of Congress who spoke to constituents via Internet audio.  The constituents posed written questions in real time during the meetings. 

The sessions, conducted with a diverse group of citizens, resulted in hundreds of online questions contributing to high quality discussions about immigration and detainee policy issues. The sessions were extremely popular with constituents—96 percent said they would like to be included in similar events in the future. 

State lawmakers in Washington have held many online town hall meetings in recent years, and legislators in California and Virginia have also held internet or web dialogues with citizens. For another take, see "What's Going on with Town Hall Meetings?"

Photo credit: Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-Picayune archive in nola.com

"My bills were my babies. I loved them all"

by Karl Kurtz

In the middle of a day-long joint hearing by California's recently appointed Assembly and Senate select committees on improving state government, Bob Naylor, a former Assembly minority (Republican) leader, said, "This is the best prolonged discussion of the legislative process, in which members have stayed attentive, that I have ever seen in California."  Fifteen members were present for most of the day and asked challenging and interesting questions of a dozen or so panelists.

The most colorful, provocative and occasionally outrageous testimony was given by State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who was formerly attorney general and president pro tem of the Senate.  A few of his best one-liners:

• Referring to the cumbersome system of checks and balances in American democracy, he said, "We're part of a system that was designed not to work."  See Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee.
• In relation to a proposal to allow committee chairs to decide which bills would be heard (California has a practice of hearing all bills), he said that he wouldn't want a committee chair to determine which of his bills were heard.  "My bills were my babies.  I loved all of them."
• "As someone who has served both in the legislative and executive branches, I can say that legislative oversight is often unfair to the executive."
• "Maybe we should have graduated limits on bill introductions. You know, first-term members could introduce just a few bills, second-term members a few more, and so on..."
• Referring to the inexperience problem in the Assembly created by term limits and evidence that Assembly committees stop far fewer bills than they did before term limits: "Two-thirds of the bills that come out of the Assembly should never see the light of day....  Stop it, stop it, stop it!  Nancy Reagan was right: You should just say no."