Democracy works: democracy in action is not appealing, so it's hard for people to appreciate it. It's up to legislators to teach a little "democracy appreciation," and help the public understand how the legislature works.

• Author: Rosenthal, Alan

What looks worst when it's working best? The answer is the legislature--which is not supposed to look good. Its job is to resolve conflicts one way or another, and neither fighting it Out nor working it out appeal to most of us. We would just as soon avoid the scuffling and have everyone agree on what ought to be done.

Some years ago, I examined statewide polls to determine whether there was any explanation for the public's assessments of the New Jersey Legislature. The only pattern I discerned from a dozen years of data was that positive approval ratings were higher in July and August than they were during the rest of the year. That is because the New Jersey Legislature was generally in session from January through June, while it was in recess from July to August. A study of public approval of congress uncovered a similar pattern. Whenever congress was handling controversial issues or trying to override presidential vetoes, its approval ratings sank. When things were quiet and not much was going on, they rose.

If a legislature is not meeting or not doing its job, it looks better. Therefore, if a legislature wants to look as good as it can, it should simply sit it out or sidestep any issue on which there might be disagreement.

HOW THE LEGISLATURE LOOKS

Appearance means an awful lot today. In this respect, legislatures are at a distinct disadvantage. They are disorganized, inefficient and unpredictable, quite unappealing to practically everybody. Newly elected legislators have their doubts about the institution in which they serve. Some of them may have run against the legislature, just as some incumbents continue to do. "Elect me, I'll straighten out the mess in (whatever the state capital)," they promise. The "system" is easy to blame; it doesn't defend itself.

When newly elected legislators arrive at the capitol, they encounter obstacles they had not imagined. If they are in the minority, they feel a sense of powerlessness because the majority pretty much controls the agenda. Even if they are in the majority, they have trouble getting their bills enacted. There are too many other legislators with too many other bills and too many hurdles in the way.

Unless they are from Nebraska, they feel the legislature has one house too many--the other house. And, if their bill has a fiscal impact, they feel that their own house has one committee too many--appropriations, ways and means or finance. Legislative life is filled with frustration, and it takes a while for members to adjust.

The media see the legislature negatively, no matter what. That's the media's business. If it's positive, it's not news; if it's negative, it is. And the more negative--the more sensational, sordid, scandalous--the more newsworthy. The media looks for conflict. When they find it, they attribute it to partisan politics, campaign contributors and political ambitions and rarely to disagreement over the merits of an issue.

All of this is understandable. The media are in a highly competitive struggle--for an audience, advertisers and survival. They give people the negative, which is what they believe people want. (A similar rationale explains the negative emphasis of many campaigns.)

The incentives for journalists--which can be referred to as the three Ps--run in the same direction. If they want their stories to have good placement, if they want to be promoted to the Washington, D.C., bureau and if they want to win a Pulitzer, reporters in the statehouse press corps are well advised to nail a legislature to the wall. Moreover, skepticism and distrust are probably part of journalists' genetic make-up.

A panelist at a meeting of legislators from the Western states recently explained, "What journalists can't see, they don't believe." Most of the legislative process can't be seen because it is going on in many places, simultaneously. And...