The American Statehouse examines the interplay of architecture and
politics in all fifty state capitols. Using both careful analysis
and photographs of exteriors and interiors, Goodsell demonstrates
how the architectural elements embody political values and ideas;
influence how politicians, lobbyists, and the news media behave;
and both awe and unite the citizenry. He concludes that a
statehouse's design is an intentional expression of how to practice
politics democratically.
The American state capitol is a "statehouse" in that it was
historically conceived as the center and home of all of state
government. As a building type, it emerged in the early nineteenth
century and flowered in the early twentieth. One of the very few
purely American architectural forms, the statehouse not only
encloses but also symbolizes American democracy at the state
level.
That all three branches of government, not to mention the state
bureaucracy initially, were housed under one roof meant that the
doctrine of the separation of powers had to be "worked out" in
close quarters, often in revealing ways. What also evolved in the
statehouse was a distinct style of politics that mixed colorful
leadership, varied partisanship, bicameral opposition, deliberative
debate, insider lobbying, uninhibited reporting, bureaucratic
growth, and populist activism. All of these elements both affected
and were acted upon by the built form--the statehouse--of state
government.
At the nexus of architectural studies and political science,
this book is about the interaction of architecture and politics in
America's state capitols. Goodsell offers what he calls a social
interpretation of architecture. Toward this end, he utilizes three
conceptual frameworks: one devoted to seeking political values or
ideas embedded within the buildings, a second concerned with the
effects of the buildings on contemporary political behavior, and a
third seeking to appraise larger impressions the buildings make on
society. Goodsell concludes that the statehouse enshrines both
majestic state authority on the one hand and liberal representative
government on the other. The American statehouse, then, is not just
a temple but a temple of democracy.
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