Legislator

hold their legislators accountable. In addition, political scientists have an opportunity to explore the extent to which each factor, partisanship and ideological extremity, directly affects…

direct election of U.S. senators by voters. I replied the 17th Amendment also permits state legislatures to decide their state’s method for nominating the parties' Senate candidates – be it by primary election, state party convention or caucus or legislators themselves – with voters electing the senator in the general election. Ten weeks later, without further inquiry, The Times published a story and two columns that focused on my observation without understanding the point made, so let me…

On the surface, term limits seem like a great idea. Proponents for them argue legislators would be less focused on reelection and more focused on passing laws. However, a rational choice theorist would actually argue against term limits. Jonathon Rauch would argue that term limits would work against the public good by creating a collective action dilemma within Congress. Without term limits, legislators’ main motivator is reelection, but to be reelected they have to please their constituents.…

Partisan Gerrymandering is the process legislators go to though, by either drawing or changing district boundaries, to make sure one political party has an advantage when it comes to the outcome of an election. This takes away the whole point of being a democratic country where people have the freedom to choose their own government, and representation. Because elections are rigged and peoples votes don't count, legislators makeup district boundaries that only benefit them, and most importantly…

factor that influences a legislator’s decision making. Legislators are more likely to respond to constituency opinion, when they are a delegate. A delegate is someone who is voted into office to vote how the people want them to vote. In this case, the legislator would be put into office because they will be following what the people want, and if they do not follow this, it could cause them to lose their seat in office the next election. Legislators will be less likely to listen to constituency…

requires Congress to balance the budget. If the state legislators tried to go the Federal law route, I believe that is would not make it through the Senate and the House with enough votes. If it did somehow pass both the Senate and House, then it could be vetoed by the president. Currently, with the Article 5 clause the state legislators are only six states short of being able to enact the clause. That means if there are 34 state legislators are on board for this amendment then it will call for…

constitution of the state? That is the role of the legislator. It is a temporary position that will write the constitution of the state. After this the position will be resolved and the legislator will have no further power. They cannot enforce their own constitution because this is the job of the people. Rousseau describes the legislator as a person grounded in reason and without emotional attachment. My issue with the legislator is that the legislator is acting as a robot. How is…

Imagine something affecting your state that surpasses the amount of deaths caused by homicide, suicide, motor vehicle accidents, and AIDS combined. That is what is happening in New Jersey. Despite numerous efforts by the state, the opioid epidemic is still on the rise. In 2015, a study conducted by New Jersey advanced media states that, “the per-capita rate of 8.3 heroin-related deaths per 100,000 people is more than triple the national rate reported by the Centers for Disease Control”…

gender, and the roles ascribed to each group within the binary, will also impact the political nature of an individual. Differences in socialization, education, experience, and demeanor have ultimately developed a dichotomy between male and female legislators. The dualistic terms in which we assign traits (e.g. classifying one action/emotion/trait as feminine and its counterpart as masculine) has placed women at a significant disadvantage when we consider the process of becoming an influential…

however, caution that the state must provide support to local governments; else, community treatment services for offenders—particularly drug and mental health programs--will suffer. Steve McCaffrey is a supporter of sentencing reform and urged legislators to support community-based treatment for offenders. He is also the head of the Indiana chapter of Mental Health of America. If sentencing reform is going to be effective, he argues, community treatment programs for offenders must receive…