UNDER DAVID WILKINS’ leadership, the S.C. House has continued its tradition as an efficient bill-passing machine. That often has served South Carolina well, and even when it hasn’t, it often has represented the legislative branch operating appropriately. But sometimes the House has been a little too efficient, as when the debate all occurs within the confines of the House Republican Caucus, where Democrats can’t participate and the public often can’t even observe.

As House members decide who should replace Mr. Wilkins, they would do well to keep the good and the bad of his tenure in mind. One of the biggest challenges facing his successor will be to preserve the House’s ability to act efficiently and decisively while transforming it into a more open and inclusive body, where everybody’s input is welcome and the decisions are made in public — sometimes even as a result of debate.

The other major challenge for the next speaker will be to strike the right balance between supporting and advancing a governor’s agenda when appropriate and providing a strong and independent check on governors when that’s appropriate.

No speaker has complete control over how the House conducts itself or what policies it pursues. He can’t make representatives approach issues with an open mind any more than he can force them to work long hours or vote the way he wants on every issue. But he sets the tone, as Mr. Wilkins has demonstrated.

Of the three candidates who hope to succeed Mr. Wilkins (Democrat Doug Jennings acknowledges he’s in the race merely to win some leverage for the minority party), we believe that House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell would be best able to maintain these difficult balances.

Mr. Harrell has the organizational and political skills to keep the House on track and the ability to chart and pursue an independent course when needed. Although he has sometimes shown the same timidity as Mr. Wilkins in advocating ideas that are not widely popular within the Republican Caucus and the same preference for working out deals behind closed doors, Mr. Harrell has a positive vision of South Carolina and its needs and has shown he can be creative in finding ways to solve them. We don’t always agree with his positions, but his views are generally in the political mainstream of South Carolina, he is not dogmatically partisan, and he has proved to be thoughtful and pragmatic.

You wouldn’t want to meet a nicer guy than Rep. Jim Harrison, who has supported several good-government measures during his tenure as House Judiciary Committee chairman. And it’s hard to imagine Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith ever being afraid to fight for what he believes in. But we fear that Mr. Smith would encourage an even more partisan approach than Mr. Wilkins has, one in which all decisions are based on party litmus tests. And we fear that under a Speaker Harrison, the debate would never end.

Mr. Harrell represents a middle way — a person who is comfortable working across party lines and who understands when it’s time to make a decision. His colleagues would do well to choose him as their next speaker.