Contents -- Preface -- 1. Introduction -- 2. What the Legislature Does -- Theory and Practice -- Representation and Accountability -- The Process of Representation -- Accounting to the Electorate for Their Performance -- Intervening for Citizens -- Deliberation, Education, Lawmaking, and Legitimation of Policy -- Deliberation in the Legislature -- Educator of the Public -- Making Law and Legitimating Policy Choices -- Controlling the Public Purse -- Holding the Administration Accountable -- The Watchdog Function -- Separation of Powers and Administrative Accountability -- Legislative Leverage on Administration -- Viability of the Legislative Veto -- Understanding What the Legislature Does -- 3. The Changing Legislature -- Shifts in Party Control -- Flexible Sessions -- Professional Staff and Open Meetings -- Political Volatility -- Changing Levels of Legislative Experience -- Changes in Gender and Occupation -- 4. The House of Representatives -- The House Is Serious but Not Stuffy -- The Majority Party Runs the House -- A Member Votes with the Caucus on All Procedural Issues -- Members Are Not to Be Punished for Voting Their Districts or Their Convictions -- The Speaker Runs the Caucus -- Seniority Matters, but It Is Not an Absolute -- The Real Work of the House Is in Committee -- Cycles of Partisan Retaliation and Retribution -- Service in the House Is a Part-Time Job -- Respect for the Institution Is Low -- The Speaker -- Paths to Power -- The Use of Power -- Masters of the House -- Floor Leadership -- The Minority and its Leadership -- The Committee System and House Leadership -- The Costs and Benefits of Centralized Leadership -- 5. The Senate and Its Leadership -- The Culture of the Senate: Oligarchy, Consensus, and Formality -- The Greatest Club in Minnesota -- A Sense of Continuity and Independence.

All Senators Are Equal, but Some Are More Equal than Others -- Pluralism and Consensus -- Leadership in the Senate -- The Organizing Committee and the Committee on Committees -- The Rules Committee -- The Majority Leader -- Institutional Limitations on Senate Leadership -- The President of the Senate -- The Senate's Committees -- Pluralism and Persuasion -- 6. The Third House: Conference Committees -- The Rise of the Conference in Minnesota -- Membership and Selection of Conferees -- Significance of the Conference in the Legislative Process -- The Environment for Legislative Collective Bargaining -- The Typical Conference -- Problems in the Conference Process -- The Pressures for Decision and Private Meetings -- Christmas Trees and Garbage -- Options for Reform -- 7. The Legislature at Work: Making Policy -- Information and Policy: An Overview -- Dealing with Problems, Framing Issues for the Legislative Agenda -- Technical and Political Information -- Setting the Agenda: The 1985 Session -- Making Superfund Safe for Business -- The 1983 Superfund Act -- Reframing the Issue for the 1985 Session -- Merriam Proposes a Compromise -- House and Senate Action -- Opponents Try to Revive the Health Issue -- The Fight over the Victims Compensation Fund -- The Compromise Bill -- The Role of Political and Technical Information in the Decision -- The Legislature Cuts Taxes -- The Tax Problem -- Framing the Tax Issue -- Information for Tax Policy -- The House Produces a Tax Cut -- The Senate Alternative -- The Tax Conference -- Is This Any Way to Make Tax Policy? -- A Stalemate on Health Policy -- The Death and Life of the Exclusive Agreements Issue -- The Senate Counterattacks -- The Conference and the Sacrifice of Prepaid Health Plans -- The Price of Intransigence -- Decisions and Information -- Institutions and Policy -- 8. The Legislature at Work: Budgeting.

The Changing Fiscal Environment -- The Minnesota Miracle and the New Fiscal Regime -- Recession, Restructuring, and Devolution -- Revenue Instability -- Rigid Entitlements -- Changing Expectations and the Rise of Budgetary Conflict: From Minnesota Miracle to Minnesota Mess -- From Legislative Control to Formulas -- Dissensus about the Role of State Government -- The Minnesota Budgetary Process: An Overview -- Preparation of the Governor's Budget -- Piecemeal Review: The Six-Pack Budget -- The House Budget Resolution -- Appropriations and Tax Conferences -- The Short Session -- Special Sessions -- The Capital Budget -- The Budget Game: Rules, Strategies, Actors, Roles -- The Forecasting Game -- The Formula Game -- The Omnibus Game -- End-of-Session Chicken -- Follow the Leader -- Budgetary Dilemmas: Information, Institutions, and Leadership -- The Costs and Benefits of Biennial Budgeting -- Bicameralism and Legislative Budget Policy -- The Whole vs. the Parts -- The Capital Budget -- The Need for Budgetary Reform -- 9. Legislators at Work: How They View Their Jobs and the Legislature -- How Members Spend Their Time -- Adequacy of Information -- Looking to the Governor and the Leadership -- Dissatisfaction with Staff Support -- Relations with the Executive Branch -- View of the Legislative Leadership -- The Satisfactions and Dissatisfactions of Legislative Life -- Attitudes Toward Legislative Reform -- The Lake Wobegon Standard: Somewhat Better than Average -- Conclusion -- 10. The Future of the State Legislature -- A Competent Legislature -- Developing an Institutional Intelligence Capacity -- The Importance of a Competent Minority -- Strengthening the Legislative Budget Process -- Improving the Deliberative Process -- Making Legitimate Policy -- Taking out the Garbage -- Recognition of the Role of the Minority -- The Importance of Decorum.

Improving Legislative Leadership -- Fostering Legislative Careers -- Four-Year Terms for All Legislators -- Is the Citizen-Legislator Obsolete? -- Salary Recognition for Leadership -- Making the Legislature More Accountable -- Time for a Unicameral Legislature -- Reduce the Size of the Legislature -- Conclusion -- References -- Interview Subjects -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.