In this Second Edition, Fifty State Capitols: The Architecture of Representative Government has been revised from its 2011 edition to include information on capitol renovations completed recently or in the works, a few factual modifications, some updated photography, review excerpts, and the addition of a map showing our version of the shortest route connecting all Fifty State Capitols. State governments, headquartered in their iconic capitol buildings, have been governing continuously-and largely democratically, peacefully, and openly-for more than two centuries, a record difficult to match in the history of civilization. Fifty State Capitols shows how the architecture of state capitols contributes to the success of representative government. Elements common to the ideal American state capitol are a prominent site with manicured grounds, legislative chambers in opposing wings, public galleries with a view of each legislative chamber, a temple-like entrance, and a central dome or tower covering a majestic central space known as the rotunda. The architects who designed the capitols-including Thomas Jefferson, Charles Bulfinch, Elijah Myers, and Cass Gilbert-looked for forms and features symbolic of a democracy, finding them most often in Ancient Greece and Rome, in the columns, pediments, and porticos of the Parthenon in Athens, the Pantheon in Rome, the Maison Carree in southern France. The formality, timelessness, and public grandeur of representative government are on public display at every one of America's fifty state capitols. Fifty State Capitols describes the majesty and stateliness of each state capitol's exterior form and selected interior details, in words and photographs, including a brief history of the building.