Citizen legislature

A citizen legislature is a legislative chamber made up primarily of citizens who have a full-time occupation besides being a legislator. Such citizen legislatures can be found on the state level, as in some U.S. states, or on the national level as in Switzerland.[1]

Legislatures in the U.S. considered to be citizen legislatures include Idaho,[2] New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon,[3] Utah,[4] and Wyoming.[5] Many other states in the US, by contrast, have a professional legislature. James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 62 that "It is not possible that an assembly of men called for the most part from pursuits of a private nature, continued in appointment for a short time, and led by no permanent motive to devote intervals of public occupation to a study of the laws, the affairs, and the comprehensive interests of their country, should, if left wholly to themselves, escape a variety of important errors in the exercise of their legislative trust."[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Die Legislative ist ein Miliz-Parlament - SWI swissinfo.ch". Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  2. ↑ Idaho State Legislature - Idaho's Citizen Legislature
  3. ↑ Oregon State Legislature Archived January 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Utah Constitution - Article VI, Section 16 - Duration of sessions.
  5. ↑ Citizen's Guide to the Legislature
  6. ↑


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