CHAPTER V

THE STATE GOVERNMENT-THE

LEGISLATURE

STRUCTURE

1. The Legislative Department (or Legislature) is called the General Assembly. It consists of two distinct bodies, the Senate and the House of Representatives (Ill. Const., Art. IV., § 1). They are sometimes called the Upper House and the Lower House. No measure can become a law unless it receives the approval of both houses.

2. Bicameral Legislatures-A legislature which consists of two houses is called bicameral (from the Latin "bi," two, and "camera," chamber; the houses, as we call them, are called chambers in Europe). A legislature of but one house is called unicameral ("uni" is the Latin for one). The Congress of the United States and the legislatures of all the States are bicameral. We shall see later that for the Illinois counties and cities there are unicameral legislative bodies.

3. Advantages-The main advantage of a bicameral legislature is the fact that every plan for a law has to be debated and voted in two separate bodies. In this way any defects which are overlooked in one house are likely to be detected in the other. On the

other hand, a unicameral legislature is less expensive and can do its work in less time.

4. Differences in the Structure of the Two Houses -In order to make the two houses quite different from each other, they have not the same number of members, the same term of office, and not quite the same constituency. The Senate in Illinois has one-third as many members as the Lower House. The senators are chosen for four years, the representatives for two years. Each senator is chosen by a majority (or plurality) of the votes in his district, while the representatives are chosen in accordance with a peculiar provision called minority representation, which will be explained later.

The powers and duties of the two houses are very nearly the same.

5. Apportionment-There are 51 senators and 153 representatives in Illinois. Each senator is chosen from a district, which consists of one or more counties (or parts of a county). It is the duty of the Legislature each ten years (after the census) to make a new apportionment of Senate districts, making them as nearly equal in population as possible. In order to do this, the population of the State, as ascertained by the last census, is divided by the number of senators, 51. The quotient is the senatorial ratio, and the population of each district should be as nearly equal to the ratio as practicable. Very populous counties (like Cook) have to be divided, and have two or more senators.

6. Gerrymandering-In arranging Senate districts it is often possible to put counties together in such a way that one political party has an advantage, and is likely to have a majority in each house of the Legisla

ture even if the other party has a majority in the State at large. This is called gerrymandering (from Elbridge Gerry, once governor of Massachusetts, who has been credited erroneously, it is now thought-with devising the scheme).

In order to make gerrymandering difficult, the Constitution requires Senate districts to be formed of contiguous and compact territory, bounded by county lines, and to contain as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants (Ill. Const., Art. IV., § 6).

7. Proportional Representation-These requirements, however, do not make gerrymandering impossible. There are some who think that the only way to prevent it, and the only way to ensure fair representation of different opinions among the people, is to abolish the senatorial districts altogether. Members of the Legislature would then be elected by the whole State on a general ticket, and each political party would be entitled to such a proportion of the whole number as the vote cast by that party is of the whole vote cast in the State. This is the plan of proportional representation. There are several different ways suggested for working out its details.

8. General Elections- -A general election for the choice of members of the Legislature is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even-numbered year. The first under this plan was held in 1872 (Ill. Const., Art. IV., § 2).

9. The Senate Changed Gradually-At the election in a year the number of which is divisible by four, the senators from the odd-numbered districts, twentysix in number, are chosen. At the intervening election, the senators from the even-numbered districts,

twenty-five in number, are chosen. In this half the Senate is renewed each two years. the Senate a continuous body.

way about This makes

10. The Lower House Changed Totally-At each general election the entire number of representatives are chosen, three from each Senate district. As the term is two years, it is seen that the House of Representatives, unlike the Senate, is wholly renewed at each election.

11. Minority Representation-The three representatives chosen in each Senate district are elected on a general ticket in that district, in the following

manner:

Each voter has three votes. He may cast one vote for each of three candidates, or two votes for one candidate and one for another, or all three votes for one candidate, or one and one-half votes for each of two candidates. By this means it is intended that no political party shall be able to elect all three of the candidates in any one district. Thus is secured representation for the minority party (Ill. Const., Art. IV., §§ 6, 7, 8).

In order to put the above system in motion, the Constitution of 1870 made some special provisions, which will be found in Article IV., Section 6, and in the Schedule, Sections 13, 14, 15, and 16.

If a vacancy occurs in either house, by the death or resignation of a member, or otherwise, a special election is held to fill that vacancy.

MEMBERS

12. Qualifications of Members-The qualifications for membership in the Legislature are age, citizenship, and residence. A senator must be at least twenty-five

years old, and a representative at least twenty-one. No person can be a member of either house who is not a citizen of the United States; who has not been for five years a resident of the State, and who has not been for at least two years next preceding his election a resident of the district in which he is chosen.

13. Disqualifications-There are some things which disqualify persons for membership in the Legislature, even if the above qualifications are possessed. These things are the holding of certain public office under the State or the United States (Art. IV., § 3); infamous crime (Art. IV., § 4); or the non-settlement of accounts with the State on the part of a holder of public money (Art. IV., § 4).

14. Oath-No person is entitled to sit as a member of either house until he has taken an oath binding him to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State, and declaring that he has given no bribe in connection with his election, and that he has received and will receive no bribe in connection with his official duties. False swearing in this case, or violation of the oath, is punished by deprivation of membership in the Legislature, and disqualification thereafter to hold any office in the State (Art. IV., § 5).

15. Privileges of Members-Members of the Legislature are entitled to freedom from arrest, to freedom of speech, and to compensation for their services.

While going to a meeting of the General Assembly, while attending the same, or while returning home, members may not be arrested, unless for treason, felony, or breach of the peace (Art. IV., § 14).

Treason may be against the United States or against