One House: The Unicameral's Progressive Vision for Nebraska

by Charlyne Berens

When Nebraskans voted to trade in their bicameral, partisan legislature for a one-house, nonpartisan body in 1934, it was a revolutionary decision. The people of the state listened to George Norris, their U.S. senator, when he argued that the new institution would be more open, more efficient, more responsible, and more responsive to the people it was meant to serve. An ardent progressive, Norris convinced his fellow Nebraskans that a nonpartisan unicameral would take power from the elites and return it to “the people.” One House examines the magnetic and driven personalities at work behind the unicameral’s creation and chronicles the lawmakers’ struggles to remain true to the populist, progressive vision of its founders and the people of Nebraska.

 

Using historical research, surveys of Nebraskans and of current and former state senators, as well as in-depth interviews with senators and legislative observers, Charlyne Berens examines whether the promises that Norris and his fellow unicameral promoters made have held up over the years. Garnering a great deal of support and some criticism from the citizens of Nebraska, the one-house legislature remains a unique experiment in American democracy as well as a powerful symbol of Nebraskans' identity.

Genres: Politics

231 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

Reviews

[Michael Rothfuss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is there a way to make political history interest? In most cases, not really. That would be unfair to rate this book in a way that one would rate Harry Potter, or the Hunger Games. What this book does give you is the drop back of the only Unicameral of all the state governments inside the US. I have lived in Nebraska for now majority of my life, and yet, I did not know much of the Unicameral. When I went through high school, and even college at UNL (where the author teaches), I did not learn much about the Unicameral. Only when I started working for the state government, did I start to learn about our Unicameral. This book brings a lot of history and drop back of how Nebraska became a Unicameral and the ideas of why they did it. What were the goals, and do they hold up today. I think it is a must read for anyone that resides in Nebraska.