The legislature is everywhere bicameral.
Two houses exist because the American people believe that the bicameral system embodies a sound principle of political science and not be cause special classes, or elements of the body politic, can thereby obtain a share in govern ment. The essential difference, an artificial one, is that the senate, as the smaller body, represents a larger number of voters who possess the same voting qualifications as the electors for the lower house.
The democratic principle of representation in proportion to population may be regarded as the established American State policy, although there are numerous departures from the strict rule and in a few States gross violations of the principle allow the existence of a rotten bor ough system comparable to that of England before the Reform Act of 1832. In many of these States the former historic unit of repre sentation, the county or town, is retained partly for partisan purposes and partly to protect a minority, usually rural, against an industrial and urban majority. The constitutions of 18 States provide adequately for proportionate representation in both houses. In the remaining 30 States there are modifications of the rule for one or both houses, of which the most common is that each county (or town) shall have at least one representative. However, these ex ceptions are grossly inequitable in some six or eight States only, nearly all of them among the original 13.
Although over one-half of the States give the initiation of money bills to the lower house, there is no sufficient reason for such discrimina tion. The practice is a survival of colonial cus tom or is a meaningless copy of Federal or English precedent. In other matters the powers of the two houses are in general identical, ex cept in the process of impeachment and that in •some States the senate has the power of con firming executive appointments. The com mittee system, modeled closely after that of Congress, is everywhere in use and rules and procedure are practically the same as the Con gressional. The governor and heads of de partments never occupy seats in the legislature and the English system of government through a premier, who is responsible to a Parliamentary majority, has never found lodgment in the United States.
The organization of the judicial department varies somewhat in the several States, although the difference is rather in the degree of devel opment than in the principle of organization. Most States have at the head of their system a single court of appellate jurisdiction called, gen erally, the Supreme Court, sometimes the Court of Appeals; and a Superior or Circuit Court of highest original jurisdiction. Lower courts consist of county and local courts of inferior jurisdiction. In New York, whose judiciary
may be taken as an example of more highly organized systems, which obtain in some of the larger States, the State courts consist of a Court of Appeals, four appellate divisions of the Su preme Court, with justices assigned from the Supreme Court, and the Supreme, really a Dis trict, Court of numerous judges, County Courts, except in New York County, and courts of the justice of the peace. The cities of the State have special Municipal Courts. In counties hav ing a population of 40,000 or over there is a separate Surrogate's Court for probate jurisdic tion. Separate chancery courts, which were found in nearly all of the original States, were regarded as inconsistent with the democratic spirit of the age and now exist in a few only of the older commonwealths. Equity jurisdic tion is, however, administered in all of the other States by the regular judges of the law.
Georgia was the only revolutionary State to vest the election of judges with the people. Six gave the choice to the legislature and in the remaining six the governor, with the, consent of the council (in Delaware of the legislature), made the appointment. The strong democratic wave which swept over this country in the early part of the 19th century affected the judicial office by very generally transferring the election to the people and by adopting a short term in place of the life tenure of the early period. There are now 37 States which vest the election of the higher judges in the people, while minor judges are even more generally elected. The governor appoints in six States, subject to the approval of the council or senate. In Connecti cut, the governor nominates and the legislature elects. In Rhode Vermont, Virginia and South Carolina the legislature both nominates and elects the judges. Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire (until 70 years of age) alone retain life tenure. The term in Pennsylvania is 21 years, in Maryland and Virginia 15, and in New York 14. Vermont has the shortest term, two years, while the average is from six to eight years. Judicial salaries have been considerably increased of late, but in many States are still altogether too low to command the best or even thoroughly qualified men. They range from $2,500 in Ver mont to $17,500 for Supreme Court judges in New York City, which is the highest judicial salary paid in America. The average for Supreme Court judges is about $5,000. In somes States judges are removable by impeach ment, in others by an address of both houses of the legislature to the governor, a two-thirds vote generally being necessary and in a few by a two-thirds vote of the legislature.