Legislature and Bicameral Legislative Systems - Essay Example

Legislature - House, Boston House, Boston is the house of government, as well as the capital, of Massachusetts located in Boston’s neighborhood of Beacon Hill. This building houses the Massachusetts governor’s offices and the state’s legislature. The building has several honorary statues in front of it, including one of General Hooker, Daniel Webster, JF Kennedy, and Educator Horace Mann (City of Boston.gov 1). The lawns below the west and east wings have statues of Mary Dyer and Anne Hutchinson. The west wing of the Bulfinch building houses the Governor’s office and the House of Representatives occupying a chamber in the Brigham addition. The Senate occupies the chamber below the dome in what formerly was the House of Representatives. The “Sacred Cord” hangs over the House of Representatives and symbolizes the fishing industry and its importance to the early economy of the Massachusetts people. The building also has several murals, especially in its second floor done by Edward Brodney who won the honor of painting its first mural in 1936 under the sponsorship of the Works progress Administration. The first mural was “Columbia knighting her World Disabled” (City of Boston.gov 1). The mural is war themed with a soldier on his knee, probably signifying Massachusetts’s role in the revolutionary war. The second mural he painted was done under the dome, is entitled “World War Mothers”, and is significant of the role played by women in the Revolutionary War. These murals are notable as being among the ones from the Revolutionary War era, with women as their main subjects. The path to Doric Hall from Beacon Hill is accessed through a staircase with the main doors remaining closed except on three occasions. This is probably representative of the “gate to the City”, which is informed by the only times these doors are opened. First, the US President opens the doors when a foreign head of state visits Boston, as well as a visit. The doors are also opened during the Governor’s last day in office as he exits for the final time (City of Boston.gov 1). The Governor walks out on that day as a final act of re-joining the people, walking alone from his executive chamber through Doric Hall on the second floor and through the main doors. However, Governor William Weld who went, down the steps, to meet Lt. Governor Paul Cellucci, has flouted this. On the other hand, Cellucci, in turn, failed to do it because the front of the building was being renovated. Jane Swift, who was in an acting capacity, chose to take the walk with her family, while mitt Romney had to take it the day before his last day in office as Deval Patrick decided to take his oath and give his inaugural address on the staircase (City of Boston.gov 1). Finally, on return from battle, the doors are opened when a regimental flag is returned to the state. However, because Washington D.C. now receives all the regimental flags, the last time that this was done was following the end of the Vietnam War. The legislature system has some obvious weaknesses and strengths. One of its key strengths is the ability of a bicameral legislature, as seen at the Boston State House, is that it is able to divide power. This keeps power from becoming too concentrated in the hands of one house, i.e., either the Senate or the House of Representatives (Todd 25). Essentially, the House of Representatives in the United States begins the appropriation of the bill. The Senate, on the other hand, confirms the appointment of the Governor or President, as well as approving decisions on state issues or foreign policy. Through this kind of spreading of power, there are checks affected on the entire system since it makes it very difficult to influence both houses, as compared to one house in the unicameral system. The bicameral legislature also balances between broad and focused issues (Todd 25). In most bicameral legislative systems, one house, in this case the Senate has fewer representatives, even though they are each representative of the same population. This allows the lawmakers from the house consisting of more representatives, in this case the House of Representatives, is representative of a smaller area, which is able to focus on local issues. The lawmakers in the Senate, which is representative of the smaller house, to put more focus on issues covering the bigger picture. Bicameral legislative systems also afford the populace more security as compared to a unicameral one. There are two government levels in the system, which are elected in two different manners (Todd 29). This means that more electorate views are represented at the level of legislation. This also means that governments that are looking to push through unscrupulous bills are not able to push legislation through without the people’s will. The vigorous debate that issues are also put through in both houses means, which all laws that are passed are subject to revision and stringent review in order to make them workable and practicable for the benefit of everyone. However, this system also has several weaknesses. First, the system is complex, being, by definition, 100% more complex than unicameral systems. The presence of two legislative houses also means two different sets of rules, two different types of representatives, and two different sets of elections (Tsebelis & Money 35). While it has been argued that this, in theory, leads to better representation of people, it can also lead to the opposite. The presence of two houses makes politics the preserve of an exclusive club. This is because the complexity of the system ensures that it favors those who understand it better with more access to influence. The bicameral legislative system, as far as representation is concerned, is less representative. This is because this system dilutes the power as it is too spread out. For instance, if individuals support a candidate for his/her stance on a specific foreign policy issue in the House of but no candidate in the Senate holding the same stance, then this issue will not pass. If elected, these people will have limited influence in the issue (Tsebelis & Money 36). Bicameral legislative systems also have a weakness in the amount of time that legislation takes to move through the House of Representatives and on to the Senate for it to be passed into law. It is the belief of a majority of people that two chambers of the legislature with debates on the same issue create a delay in the process of lawmaking (Tsebelis & Money 39). It is also a waste of money and resources, which has led to dissatisfaction in the system. In addition, there have also been circumstances where different parties controlled the houses, which hold up important legislation. Works Cited City of Boston.gov. Massachusetts State House. 2013. Web. 17 April 2013 . Todd, Tom. Unicameral versus bicameral legislatures : a policy debate. St. Paul : House Research, 2011. Print. Tsebelis, George & Money, Jeannette. Bicameralism. Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010. Print. Read More