The Thicket at State Legislatures

Farewell to The Thicket

By Karl Kurtz

Another wetland has fallen prey to development.

The victim this time is The Thicket at State Legislatures, and the development is NCSL's spiffy redesigned website, which prominently features The NCSL Blog. The NCSL Blog will absorb and continue to cover the primary beat of The Thicket--the practice of representative democracy, state politics and elections, and federalism--but it will expand its coverage to include state policy issues and NCSL news and priorities.

So, welcome to The NCSL Blog and farewell to The Thicket. The Thicket will continue to exist as an archive of useful information (historically, more than half of the hits to The Thicket have come from search engines, indicating that readers were seeking information provided by the blog), but there will be no new posts. The NCSL Blog provides a link to the old posts in The Thicket.

The Thicket, which took it's name from Justice Felix Frankfurter's famous phrase about how redistricting is a political thicket, was a labor of love for seven years. We launched The Thicket in May 2006 and posted 1,657 stories since that time.

Our readers have included 378,577 unique visitors from 192 countries who have viewed 691,653 pages. Those are small numbers compared to the big guys (The Huffington Post gets as many visitors in a day as The Thicket did in seven years). But we have been happy in our quiet niche--"by and for legislative junkies"--and have been proud of our work.

Far and away the most popular story ever posted in The Thicket was "Movies About Ethical Dilemmas". It has received twice as many pageviews as the next most popular posting. Here are the top 10 stories of all time:

1. Movies About Ethical Dilemmas by Peggy Kerns (September 2009)
2. Fire Alarms and Police Patrols: Two Approaches to Legislative Oversight by Karl Kurtz (October 2009)
3. The Closest U.S. Presidential Race in History was ... by Mark Wolf (November 2012)
4. Republic or Representative Democracy by Karl Kurtz (September 2011)
5. Who will Meet in 2011? by Meagan Dorsch (December 2012)
6. Full-time or Part-time Legislature: Which is Better? by Karl Kurtz (February 2013)
7. Keeping up With Online Legislative Tracking Services by Jo Anne Bourquard (January 2011)
8. How to Run for the Legislature by Karl Kurtz (October 2006)
9. Historical Party Affiliations of State Legislatures by Karl Kurtz (September 2007)
10. Legislative Walkouts are Nothing New by Karl Kurtz (February 2011)

See you over at The NCSL blog.

"That's Democracy:" Lyrics by Alan Rosenthal, Adapted by Ginger Gold Schnitzer

By Karl Kurtz

"We need to get our campaign to improve public understanding of representative democracy into pop culture! How about if we write a song about the legislative process?" So said the late Alan Rosenthal, professor of political science at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, in a phone conversation more than 10 years ago. A few days later, I received the following e-mail message:

Karl:
I have started thinking of lyrics and will consult with some talented people I know in NJ (former students).  We will see how far we can get.

So far, these are the ideas, words:

    Why can't people all agree?
    Because they see things differently.
        That's democracy.

    How special are all those interests we see?
    They're very special, since they include you and me.
        That's democracy.

    Do legislators we elect care a rap about their constituency?
    You better believe they do--otherwise they're history.
        That's democracy.

    Why doesn't the legislature cut out the fuss and fight?
    The problem is that different people think they're right.
        That's democracy.

    But it takes so long to get things done.
    That's because you need 50% plus one.
        That's democracy.

    The system isn't perfect, and it never will be.
    It's messy, it's human, but it works remarkably.
         It's democracy.

 I have finally found my calling.
 Alan

Unfortunately, neither Alan nor I did anything with these lyrics that so admirably capture the key messages of NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy and the America's Legislators Back to School program.

After Alan's death, his wife, Lynda Kresge, discovered this old e-mail message and passed it on to Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute. Ruth and her team came up with the idea of asking Ginger Gold Schnitzer, a lobbyist for the New Jersey Education Association and a former student of Alan's, to put the lyrics to music and to perform it at the Eagleton Institute's celebration of Alan's life and career.

Alan wanted something more sophisticated and informative than the venerable "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock, which first aired in 1975. He succeeded remarkably, and this song is a suitable closing to our celebration of a great friend, supporter and Pied Piper of NCSL and America's state legislatures.

A video of the entire celebration of Alan's life and career--all two hours, nine minutes and 13 seconds of it--is now available on YouTube. Fortunately, the editor inserted bookmarks for each of the 20 speakers so that viewers who want to sample different speeches, including ones by such luminaries as former U.S. senators Alan Simpson and Paul Sarbanes, may do so.

NCSL's Jan Goehring Receives Special Recognition

By Karl Kurtz

In addition to announcing the 2013 award to Massachusetts' Anne Ziaja, the Kevin Harrington Award selection committee gave special recognition to Janet B. Goehring, the longtime leader of NCSL's America's Legislators Back to School program who died prematurely this past spring. Here's a video honoring Jan presented by Massachusetts Senate President Pro Tem Richard Moore, a past president of NCSL, at the Legislative Summit in Atlanta last month:

In addition to this celebration of Jan's life, I also recently received a letter from Olga Batishcheva, an alumna of the 2009 international Legislative Fellows Program who worked with Jan and me at NCSL and is now director of the Center for Democratic Leadership in Ukraine. Olga enclosed a book of articles and papers from a conference on civic education that the Center had sponsored. Olga says,

At the end of the book there is a short essay compiled from some postings by Jan Goehring in The Thicket that I translated into Ukrainian. At the end of the 2012-13 adcademic year, we also organized a competition among students on the best student research paper devoted to issues in civic education. This year we named the competition in honor of Jan.... This is my small tribute to Jan's memory.

Thank you for this touching memorial, Olga. Jan's reach in democracy education was truly global.

Massachusetts' Anne Ziaja Wins 2013 Harrington Award

By Karl Kurtz

Anne Ziaja, director of the Massachusetts Senate legislative education office, received the Kevin B. Harrington Award for Excellence in Democracy Education at NCSL's 2013 Summit last month in Atlanta. Anne has worked in this office for 35 years and has done an outstanding job of providing civic education for countless young people, high school and college interns and adults. She has consistently achieved 100 percent participation by Massachusetts senators in NCSL’s America’s Legislators Back to School program.

Sponsored by NCSL’s Trust for Representative Democracy, the national award recognizes an individual or organization for advancing the public’s understanding of state and local representative democracy.

Harrington, the founding president of NCSL, was dedicated to improving citizens’ understanding of American democracy. Anne received the honor bearing his name for exemplifying the same passionate commitment to excellence in democracy education.

Here is a video of the award presentation to Anne by NCSL past president Sen. Richard Moore, Massachusetts:

After receiving the award, Ziaja said,“To receive the Harrington Award and be honored on a national level is a highlight of my career. Advancing the understanding of representative democracy, and the rights and responsibilities we enjoy, assures that we will have an informed citizenry. I have been fortunate to work with many senators, representatives and legislative staff to educate Massachusetts residents about our state legislature, and give them the tools they need to engage.”

For more information about Anne Ziaja's excellent work as a civic educator, see this release. Congratulations to Anne Ziaja!

Eagleton Institute of Politics Celebrates Alan Rosenthal

By Karl Kurtz

This coming Sunday, September 22, the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University will celebrate the life and work of Alan Rosenthal, its former director, long-time faculty member and preeminent scholar of state legislatures who passed away in July. All are invited to this event at the Nicholas Music Center on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ruth Mandel, the current director of the Eagleton Institute, has written a moving tribute to Alan for the Council of State Governments' Capital Ideas, which complements our NCSL celebration of our long-time friend, collaborator and guru in State Legislatures magazine.

We're listening: Presidential Election Commission Gets an Earful

By Mark Wolf

Fixing the way America runs its elections its elections shouldn't be much of a challenge. Just come up with a national consensus on voter registration, eliminate long lines at polling places, provide more voting options, be wary of reforms that come with political agendas and if you're going to move towards all-mail voting, don't forget about the post office's role.

And get this all wrapped up by Dec. 17 so we have time for holiday shopping.

Three members of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, which is charged with all that and more, held a 90-minute listening session at NCSL's Legislative Summit and heard from lawmakers, election officials and representatives of voting technology.

Delaware's demographics mirror the United States' almost exactly, which makes the state an excellent litmus test for various programs, said Representative Earl Jaques.

"We've kind of been stuck in the 1940s and 1950s procedures," said Jaques. "This past year we've finally addressed how we would conduct elections during natural disasters. We've just formed an election task force tring to encourage more people to vote because we're appalled at the low percentage of people who vote. We don't have early voting and we're learning how to do no-excuse absentee voting."

His colleague, John Kowalko, said he supported no-excuse absentee voting, "because with the combination of the busy lives of people and getting to that polling place on Tuesday, how difficult is it for poor people to take a day off from work and stand in line. I just heard the Australian election is coming up and they get fined if they don't vote. You can imagine the uproar if we tried to do that here but if we make it more accessible and easir for people I think people going to avail themselves of those opportunities. Any impediment to voting is just non-negotiable.

Erin Seiler of the Oregon Legislature's Committee Services Office, said the viability of the U.S. Postal Service is vital for her state, which votes exclusively by mail.

"We're struggling with what to do if we lose rural mail delivery or even go to four-day delivery," she said. "It would prohibit voting in some rural areas. Washington (state) allows votes to be counted if they were mailed on election day, but we don't. Ours have to be received by election day."

Representative Gary Richardson of New Hampshire spoke in opposition to registration provisions that would force people to register their motor vehicles: "I think it's a way to try to stop college students from voting."

Representative G.A. Hardaway from Tennessee said he considered the lack of voter education to be the root problem with low election turnout: "You have to start with puttihg civics education back in every school and expand them to include of of the voting procedures, techniques, history and law."

Nate Persily, the commission's research director, urged states to forward any information they have dealing with turnout projections, calling accurate turnout predictions the "holy grail" of election administration.

Alan Rosenthal, 1932-2013

By Karl Kurtz

"The field of state politics lost a giant." So said University of Illinois Springfield Prof. Chris Mooney upon learning of the death last night of Rutgers University Prof. Alan Rosenthal. Here's an excerpt from a lengthy and informative article about Rosenthal in The Star Ledger today:

Alan Rosenthal, a Rutgers University political science professor whose quiet demeanor masked his far-reaching influence on government in New Jersey and beyond, has died.

Rosenthal, 81, succumbed to cancer Tuesday at his Princeton home.

Although most recently known for casting the deciding vote two years ago on a map that will help decide the state’s Senate and Assembly elections for the next decade, Rosenthal’s most enduring legacy is helping to build state Legislatures – including New Jersey’s — into more powerful branches of government that rival the governor and judiciary.

“He had more influence nationally over state legislatures and their operations in the last 40 or 45 years than anybody else in the country," said William Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "There’s no question about it."

But that influence did not feed into ego, according to Raymond Bateman, a former senate president who knew Rosenthal since the 1960s.

"He was a self-effacing guy. He never worked to get in the spotlight, but he always did his work well," Bateman said. "Alan was in the vanguard of people who were really trying to make the Legislature better... When Alan talked about legislatures, legislators listened."

Look for a full-length tribute to Alan Rosenthal in the July-August issue of State Legislatures magazine. The articles in that tribute touch not only on Rosenthal's extraordinary contributions to the study of state politics but also his far-reaching impact on strengthening the legislative branch of government across the nation, his leadership of efforts to improve public understanding of representative democracy and his commitment and support to NCSL and other national organizations.

As part of the tribute, I solicited testimonials from 66 current and former legislators, staff, governors, lobbyists, students and political scientists who have known Alan well. Remarkably, 37 of these highly placed and busy people responded with  comments about his effect on their lives. For example, former Wyoming U.S. Senator Alan Simpson said:

Alan Rosenthal shaped my legislative life. We first met when I was a young Wyoming state legislator. Here was this amazing, creative, inspiring, warm, wise and witty man. He became my mentor as to how to make legislating work. He was a game changer for me. My life is richer for having shared a portion of it with him. I consider him to be one of the greatest influences in my life as a legislator. There have been many other influential people in other areas of my life, but he won the prize in that field. He was “The Wizard” in my mind.

Simpson's comments, along with 36 others, can be found in an online supplement to the July-August issue of State Legislatures magazine.

I have known Alan for more than 40 years as mentor, collaborator and good friend. Our once a month or so hour-long phone conversations--lively dialogues ranging across American state politics, civic education and life in general--have been a highlight and staple of my life for many years. I have missed his energy and ideas over the last several months as he has been in decline with his terrible cancer. He is irreplaceable. 

7/12/03 addendum: See the New York Times and NPR obituaries.

Remembering RFK, Who Inspired a Generation to Public Service

By Ed Smith

There are a few moments in life that draw together the strands of your life. We often don't even see the moment for what it is until later, years later in my case.

A moment for me came on the morning of June 5, 1968, 45 years ago today. I was a 14-year-old Irish Catholic kid growing up in Connecticut. The Kennedys loomed large in my nascent political consciousness. John Kennedy had been a hero and now Robert Kennedy was a rising political force rushing toward the White House. It was, after all, long before the bloom faded a bit from that particular Irish rose.

Library of Congress - Donated by U.S. News and World Reportr

In 1968 there was no cable TV, no Internet, essentially no way to get your news except the three TV networks, radio and the morning newspaper.

I was a paperboy. That morning I went out to open my bundle of Hartford Courants at 5:30, ready to walk the neighborhood to drop off the previous day's news. As I peeled away the brown paper wrapping I saw the headline that he'd been assassinated. Honestly, I can't remember the exact wording. Kennedy had been shot just after midnight and in those days newspapers actually chased their last edition to get in momentous breaking news.

I was stunned. I cried. Today I would have known the news before my first cup of coffee from the news feed on my phone, from Twitter, in a dozen different ways. In retrospect, I think the shock was greater, the news more profound delivered in heavy black ink on newsprint. It may just be age or maybe nostalgia, but equally shocking news now delivered moments after a tragedy occurs seems bled of the emotional punch.

But what sticks with me all these years later was the hour that followed. I walked my paper route and dropped The Courant on doorstep after doorstep. Since I knew almost no one had yet gotten the news at that time of the morning I realized every person, my neighbors, would pick up the paper from the stoop, unfold it and feel that punch in the gut. It was like walking in a funeral procession.

That was an awful year. RFK's murder came only a few months after Martin Luther King's death. That August in Chicago the Democratic National Convention became the place where the anguish over the Vietnam War and despair over the deaths of King and Kennedy spilled into a bloody confrontation in the public square.

 It was an ugly and messy time, but it stoked a passion that drew a generation into public service. It was a crucible that gave people across the political spectrum the nerve to step on the political stage, something we should never take for granted.

Ed Smith is the director of digital communications at NCSL.

You can Find any Occupation you Want among America’s Legislators

By Martyanne Donovan

What do a train conductor, an inventor, a jewelry designer, and an Eskimo whaler have in common? They are all part of 2013's new class of freshmen legislators. The group brings a diverse background, a variety of experience, and a good set of skills to their respective statehouses after spending years of service in their communities.

Blanket toss in Barrow from Wikipedia

Alaska Representative Benjamin Nageak (D), an Inupiat (Eskimo) from Barrow, is a whaler. He and his fellow shipmates fish the mammal during the spring in a boat made from whale skins. Once caught, they skin the whale and freeze the meat until June when the Eskimo community celebrates a "Nalukataq" or feast. The entire community is invited to partake in the meal and day-long events, including "blanket tossing" using the whale skin.

Wyoming State Representative, Lee Filer (D), is a conductor for Union Pacific and a transportation technician for the 153^rd Airlift Squadron.

Karin Housley (R), a newly elected Minnesota senator and her husband, Phil, a former NHL player, are part-owners of the Lumberyard Hockey & Sports Training Facility in Stillwater.

Oklahoma Representative Bobby Cleveland (R), has manufactured all kinds of things including refurbished golf balls. Cleveland is also an inventor, holding two patents and more than 10 trademarks.

Before her leadership service, Georgia's Representative, Valencia Stovall helped with the day-to-day operations for the 1996 Olympic Games, events for the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Additionally, Stovall helped manage the U2 and Rolling Stones concerts.

Vermont Representative, Cindy Humiston Weed created pinewood toys several years before switching her career to jewelry design. Weed still uses wood products for her pieces; she was featured in 1992's edition of Fine Woodworking's Design Book #6.

Arkansas' Representative Micah Neal (R), is a restaurateur. He worked for years at his family-owned eatery, Neals Café in the famous "pink" building in Springdale. Neals Café was listed in Southern Living in 2004 as one of the best places in the country to eat fried chicken. Their fried pickles also come highly recommended.

Before joining the legislature, Washington's Representative, Gael Tarleton (D), worked for a Fortune 500 company managing two subsidiaries in Russia. She helped lead nuclear waste clean-up in the country and assisted in rebuilding Russia after the fall of communism.

If you know of a legislator with an interesting background or career, please tell us.

Jan Goehring, Friend and Colleague

By Karl Kurtz

NCSL and the state legislative and civic education communities mourn the death of Janet Buxton Goehring, NCSL staffer and great advocate for state legislatures through her work with the Trust for Representative Democracy. She died on March 4, 2013, at age 55.

Jan received a B.A. degree from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Denver. Before joining NCSL, she was a federal judicial clerk and an assistant city attorney in Denver and Santa Clara County, Calif., focusing on child abuse and neglect, domestic violence and juvenile cases.

She first came to NCSL in 1996 and worked as a policy analyst on transportation issues. Her legal training and writing skills stood her in good stead as a smart analyst of complex policy issues for state legislators and legislative staff.

In 1999, Jan began working with me to establish NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy, a public education and outreach program designed to improve public understanding of state legislatures and Congress. Jan led the creation of the flagship program of the Trust, the America's Legislators Back to School program that encourages all state legislators to go into schools and teach about what it's like to be a lawmaker. Together we built a multi-media curriculum for age groups ranging from second grade to adults around the theme, "Representative democracy works, not perfectly but better than any conceivable alternative form of government."

Jan recruited, trained and managed a remarkable network of legislative staff in all 50 states who serve as Back to School program coordinators, aiding legislators in connecting with schools, students and classrooms. The Back to School program relies on the volunteer contributions of the coordinators, and Jan was invaluable in supporting and organizing their work. The program has reached more than 2 million students.

Jan and I had a great partnership. I had ideas, concepts and strategies. She had action, discipline, practicality, and a get-it-done approach. She also had great suggestions about what would work in the classroom and with students through her own experiences with young people.

Jan was a prolific contributor to The Thicket, authoring more than 100 posts on the Trust, civic education and Arizona politics (her state liaison responsibility).

Alan Rosenthal, the Rutgers University political scientist who helped inspire the creation of the Trust for Representative Democracy, said Jan was a "wonderful person who touched many lives. She was collaborative, supportive and easy to work with. The greatest way we can honor her memory is to continue her work in improving public understanding of representative democracy."

March 6 update: Lee Hamilton, director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University, former member of Congress and a partner in our work on education about representative democracy, said, "We admired and enjoyed the creativity and congeniality that Jan brought to every task. She believed strongly that the future of our representative democracy hinges on young people understanding government and participating constructively in politics. Connecting with each new generation of Americans and inspiring them to be active, informed citizens--that was Jan's passion."

During her year-long battle with cancer, Jan wrote a blog about her experience with this dreadful disease. Hundreds of her friends, family and colleagues in the state legislative and civic education communities followed and supported her travails through her blog and were inspired by her faith, strength and love.

She leaves her husband, Jeff, and son, Daniel. Her family has also posted a Jan's Celebrationn of Life website.

Farewell, Jan. We miss you.