Try it, you'll like it.

• Author: Lays, Julie
• Position: Representative government, an evaluation

Democracy is in. Communism is out. So are military dictatorships, totalitarian regimes and centralized economies (at least in most places). Countries from Latin America to Eastern Europe to Africa are trying out representative government--and trying to make it work.

Take Guatemala, for example. Coups, military dictators and political violence have characterized its history. A republic since 1839, only in 1991 did the country experience the first transfer of power from one elected president to another. What would be a good model for this Central American country? Certainly not the U.S. Congress with its $2 billion budget and thousands of staff members. Guatemala has 9.5 million people, 42,000 square miles and a $12.8 billion economy. The scale is much more like Ohio or North Carolina than the United States.

50 Good Models

In fact, the United States offers 50 very good democratic models with varying degrees of professionalism, staff support and budgets. "From Wyoming to New York, there's a nice sample of different approaches to doing representative government," says Brian Weberg, director of the Legislative Management program at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

That's why state legislative experts are being sought to assist emerging democracies worldwide. Help can take the form of assessing staff needs, installing a computer network, suggesting ways to improve library and research methods or coordinating the development of a professional staff society.

Don Schneider, clerk of the Wisconsin Senate, has been involved in several projects overseas. "I feel strongly aobut developing the legislative side of emerging democracies," he says. "Without a strong legislature, you aren's any different than a totalitaran regime."

Schneider, along with John Phelps, clerk of the Florida House, and others, was part of a group that went to Guatemala in 1989 to suggest ways to improve their information processing capacity and to assist the clerks and secretaries of Central America in forming a professional association of legislative technicians.

Yes, they needed high-tech computer help with document composition and reproduction, bill drafting and archiving. But they also needed paper, staples and paper clips. Legislative staff did most of their work with a couple of mimeograph and ancient Xerox machines. The daily journal was often months late.

"I have a profound respect for my counterparts in Central America," said Phelps. "They are professional, have respect for the institution and are trying hard to establish democracy."

After assisting Pakistan, Glenn Newkirk, director of legislative automated systems for the...