The principal executive and administrative officers of your state.
Those that are elective and those that are appointive.
A complete list of the administrative bureaus, boards, commissions, and other state agencies, with their duties.
The application of Governor Lowden's statement regarding Illinois to your state.
Any proposed reorganization of the executive branch of your state government.
THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The legislative branch of government consists, in all states, of a legislature ("general assembly," "legislative assembly," or "general court") composed of two "houses" or "chambers," the house of representatives and the senate. The senate is the "upper house," and is usually from one-third to one-half the size of the "lower house"; in Massachusetts only one-sixth the size.
THE TWO HOUSES
A bill to become a law must pass both houses separately, each house acting as a check upon the other, thus securing greater deliberation in lawmaking. The senate is supposed to be, and usually is, a more conservative, or cautious, body than the house of representatives, partly because of its smaller size which makes possible a more careful consideration of business. Its members are elected from larger districts, thus increasing the opportunity to select able men. A higher age qualification is required for membership in the senate than in the house of representatives; and only a part of the senate is elected at each election, so that it is a continuing body, always containing members of experience, while the lower house may be almost entirely changed at each election.
DEFECTS IN DISTRIBUTION OF REPRESENTATION
It is a theory of our representative government that representation should be proportional to population. To secure this result, each state is divided into election districts presumably of as nearly equal population as possible, the senatorial districts being the larger. In practice, however, these districts do not always have representation proportional to their population. The county is often the unit of representation, or in New England the town, and these districts vary greatly in population. An attempt is made to equalize the difference by providing that no district shall have less than one representative, and often that none shall have more than a certain number. Inequalities nevertheless exist. In Connecticut, thirty- four of the most populous towns and cities have sixty-eight members in the lower house, whereas if the distribution were made on the basis of population they would be entitled to 186 members. Again, four of the smallest Connecticut towns, with a total population of 1567, have five members; four of the most populous cities, containing 309,982 inhabitants, have only eight members, whereas on the basis of population they would be entitled to eighty-seven. [Footnote: C.A., Beard, America Government and Politics, p. 521.]