Legislatures have never been especially popular with the electorate. After all, they cater to strong-minded, ambitious individuals whose competing agendas often clash in all-too-public ways. And, on occasion, legislators have seriously betrayed the public's trust. Still, legislators must find ways to reach agreement on difficult subjects. They must be capable of building majorities within their own chamber and working with their counterparts in the other chamber to forge legislation, to say nothing of addressing the concerns of the chief executive. 

Indeed, despite criticism from the media, from the public, and from their own members, legislatures do come to terms with most of the thorny issues placed before them. As detailed at the national level (Sinclair's Unorthodox Lawmaking) and in the states (Rosenthal's The Decline of Representative Democracy), legislatures find ways to bring together the myriad interests of society and produce laws that retain the support of almost all citizens. And most legislators win reelection, at least as much for their services as for their built-in advantages as incumbents.

If we are to make progress in developing an enhanced understanding - and appreciation - of political institutions, the civic education movement could do worse than focusing on legislatures, which make up the core of representative democracy. 

The authors in this edition of Extension of Remarks address the questions of whether and (especially) how we should implement a "civic education" approach to legislatures. Even if we concur that we should weave civic education into our instruction, there is no clear set of directions on how to do this. What may be most important is for high school teachers and college professors to think through their responsibilities on this front, and for some scholars to produce the materials that will assist in understanding the complexities of legislatures without encouraging the easy cynicism that seems the norm on campuses in particular and within the broader society in general. 

Contributions to "Extension of Remarks" are encouraged. The total length of such contributions should be four pages, text typed, single spaced, with references following the style of Legislative Studies Quarterly. Works may be edited for content or for length. Please send proposed contributions to Burdett A. Loomis, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-2157.