If you want to understand the California Legislature, spend a day sitting in the gallery with a map of the state in your lap and a Sharpie in your hand.

Debra Bowen, California’s next secretary of state, was accused during the recent campaign of hanging too closely with opponents of electronic voting who believe the boxes can be tampered with to rig the results of an election.

Now that the Republican one-party rule of Congress is about to end for at least two years, there are signs that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 — which further expanded the unilateral executive powers that the president prizes — may be subject to revisions more in line with the Constitution’s separation of powers, which have been an endangered species for the past six years.

As the California Legislature reconvened briefly last week, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez staged a press conference, surrounded by committee and caucus chairs and other members of his leadership team, and crowed that it reflected the cultural diversity of the state.