Like the U.S Supreme Court, the time may have come for progressives interested in saving democracy to expand the size of the Massachusetts House of Representatives as well.

The more the merrier.

Left wing loonies like Senators Eddie Markey and Elizabeth Warren are all in on expanding the nine-member conservative court so that it can be packed with judges who will make decisions they support.

Why not do the same with the 160-member Massachusetts House of Representatives which, although dominated by liberal Democrats, still does not perform the way liberals would like.

At issue is the complaint, led by the Boston Globe, that the super Democrat majorities in both the House and the Senate have placed too much power and control in the hands of House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka.

That is why, according to the paper, the Legislature “can’t get important things done in a timely manner” when the two powerful leaders disagree on policy. And that is also why, for instance, Gov. Maura Healey’s economic development package did not pass.

So why is it, the paper asked in a sophomoric editorial last week, that Mariano and Spilka “still have a firm hold on their leadership posts on Beacon Hill?”

Well, one reason is that the duly elected Democrats in both the House and the Senate voted to elect them to their leadership positions, which is the way democracy works.

They in turn reward their followers with “stipends,” chairmanships, staff, office space and other perks of power.

Another reason is that efforts to “professionalize” the Legislature to make it more efficient, which led to the cut in the size of the House from 240 to 160 members back in 1978, not only failed to do so, but put more power in the hands of legislative leaders.

It is a given that the House was unruly with 240 members, but it was more open to debate, dissent and compromise. A Speaker not only had to deal with Republican members, but also with outspoken Democrats as well.

Challenging a Speaker or a Senate President was not unusual.

In addition, unlike today, House members back then had no staff or offices or stipends. They worked from their desks in the House chamber, or from committee hearing rooms. They made their phone calls from telephone booths in the House lobby. They fought for parking spaces. It was a part-time job with part-time pay.

It is still a part-time job, but the base pay is $73,665, with many members making more through “stipends” dished out by the Speaker and Senate President to supporters, if they fall in line.

And that means going along with decisions made behind closed doors by the Speaker and the Senate President along with a few close aides. There is little debate and few roll calls.

Back when things were open, the Speaker or the Senate President did not have a bag of goodies, like they have today, to give out. There was always vigorous debate in both branches.

Things were not rubber stamped. State House reporters quoted legislators in their stories, and printed roll calls when they took place. People knew what was going on at the State House, and they cared.

Now nobody knows or cares if the Legislature is even in session, or if the governor is even around.

When was the last time you read about a House or Senate debate or saw a roll call in a newspaper?

Like the cut in the size of the House, the cut in the number of State House reporters has been severe as well.

Back then there were 35 reporters in the State House Press Room. It was considered the best beat in the newspaper business and for many it was their life calling. Now you are lucky if there are five or six.

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I recall talking to my late buddy Wally, who ran the Golden Dome Pub, the State House watering hole on Bowdoin Street beside the State House. I asked him how he felt about the eighty legislators losing their jobs back when the size of the House was cut.

Pointing his crunched-out cigar at the State House, Wally said, “Forget about them. What about me? I just lost eighty boozers.”

We did, too.

Peter Lucas is a veteran political reporter. Email him at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com