Chapter 4 Case Study: Unicameral, Nonpartisan State Senators in Nebraska

State legislatures resemble the legislative branch at the federal level (Congress) in many ways. They have representatives from different districts (or states, as in the US Senate) who are selected by voters in that district, they have committees that focus on specific issues to improve policymaking, and they are elected for short terms in which they serve in office. In most states, they are also partisan like members of Congress, and they are also bicameral like Congress, meaning there are two chambers of the assembly. Those last two features, however, are not true in the legislative branch of Nebraska.

The Nebraska Legislature is the sole legislative body in state government for the Cornhusker State. The unicameral (only one chamber) assembly has forty-nine seats for representatives who are known as “senators,” making it the smallest legislative branch in the nation. The state senators are selected through single-member district elections, which means the state is drawn into forty-nine districts, and only candidates who reside in a district may run in that district, while voters may only cast a ballot in their district of residence.

Nebraska’s legislative branch is unique in its nonpartisanship as well. It is the only state that does not have partisan elections for its legislators, meaning the party label that accompanies candidates running for state legislative office in all other states is not listed on the ballot or used in campaigns. It is important to note that this does not mean the candidates do not have partisan preferences or are apolitical; they likely prefer one of the two dominant political parties and align closely to that party’s platform, but the election for the state legislature itself does not include partisanship.

When the state was first settled in 1867, Nebraska did have a bicameral legislature that mirrored the other states. Like other states, though, the bickering and dissension between the two assemblies meant legislation regularly stalled and legislators regularly vented frustrations with the standstill. Proposals to eliminate one assembly and transition to a unicameral legislature were discussed for two decades before ultimately passing via constitutional amendment in 1934. The timing of the proposed change seems to have been influential in its success. Deep in the Depression, voters saw this as an opportunity to cut government costs and share their dissatisfaction with the previous legislative session. US Senator George Norris (R-NE) served as a champion of the effort three years prior to its approval, inspired by his visit to Australia and his witnessing of what he believed was a much more effective unicameral legislature.

State legislatures all provide the legislative function of creating policy for state governments, but the variety among them in several different institutional, political, and cultural features makes them unique to their own state. Nebraska is the only legislative body that is unicameral and nonpartisan. Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Washington all use multimember districts to select their legislators in the lower chambers (typically known as the state house), so voters can choose more than one person to represent their district for that chamber. Sixteen states have adopted term limits so their legislators can only serve for so many years in office before being term-limited out. Wyoming limits its state legislatures to serving twenty and forty days in session, depending on whether the year ends in an odd or even number, making it among the most part-time legislatures still in the United States. The variety among the state legislatures illustrates the differences we see in the states themselves and underscores how the state legislatures are responsive to and reflective of their own state cultures as well as their state constitutions.

Critical Thinking Questions

Nebraska voters decided to change their state legislature from a bicameral organization to a unicameral one based on their dissatisfaction with the original arrangement. What are some potential benefits that a unicameral institution would provide? What might be some of the challenges or disadvantages that could arise?

This case study highlighted several institutional differences (bicameral/unicameral, partisanship, term limits, professionalization, term length, single-member/multimember districts, etc.) that vary across states. What role do each of these differences play in state legislative functions? What about in the relationship between voters and their state legislators?

Research your own state and note the institutional features of your state legislature. Based on what you learned about Nebraska’s and other states’, which do you think would be better for effective policymaking?