Going by the headlines, you’d think the Wisconsin and Michigan state capitols were on the verge of seizure by a junta. The story is that Republicans want to “rig the game” of politics with a lame-duck “power grab” or a “coup.” Talk about overwrought. Lame-duck sessions are routine in American democracy, and an election doesn’t end the constitutional power of a legislature.

Despite media shrieks, the proposals mooted in Madison and Lansing don’t repeal democracy. What they do is assert, in relatively minor ways, the Legislature’s...