Careers after Congress: Do Jobseeking Legislators Shortchange Constituents?

by Matthew S. Dabros

Overview

Citizens, journalists, and watchdog organizations claim that U.S. Congress members serve special interest groups in return for lucrative jobs in industry once they leave office—and that these legislators become lax in their final term of office as they are no longer compelled by elections to provide quality representation to citizens. This book investigates the veracity of these claims.

The established consensus among scholars and citizens groups is that democracy suffers when U.S. Congress members prepare to leave office—that legislators are quick to satisfy pressure groups' requests in part because they anticipate being rewarded with financially compelling positions in those organizations once they leave office. But is this actually true? Focusing on 346 of the senators and representatives who left office during the 107th through 111th Congresses (January 2001 to January 2011), this book makes a counterintuitive argument: that job-seeking legislators provide stalwart service to citizens during their final term of office for fear of damaging their reputations and imperiling their post-Congressional career prospects.

After an introductory chapter, author Matthew S. Dabros summarizes past research on political opportunism before discussing how nonelectoral constraints imposed by special interests (namely, diminished post-Congressional employment opportunities) actually encourage job-seeking legislators to provide quality representation to citizens even in their final term in office. The book also describes the nature and identifies the determinants of post-Congressional careers. The chapters use numerous contemporary examples and draw parallels to topics familiar to general readers to ensure that the book is highly accessible and interesting to nonspecialists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798216057963
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	05/18/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	604 KB
Age Range:	7 - 17 Years

About the Author

Matthew S. Dabros, PhD, is assistant professor of political science at Aurora University, Aurora, IL.
Matthew S. Dabros, PhD, is assistant professor of political science at Aurora University, Aurora, IL.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 American Democracy and the Revolving Door
Chapter 2 Political Representation as Mr. Smith Leaves Washington
Chapter 3 What Have All the Legislators Done?
Chapter 4 Do Job Seekers Shortchange Constituents through Work Reductions?
Chapter 5 Do Job Seekers Shortchange Constituents in Their Policymaking?
Chapter 6 If Not Opportunism, Then What? Correlates of Post-Congressional Careers
Chapter 7 Why Legislators Remain (Mostly) Faithful to Constituents
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Mark W. Petersen

"Professor Dabros boldly challenges the conventional wisdom that self-interested behavior on the part of politicians is inherently bad for the American people. This counterintuitive conclusion is supported by the idea that the natural desire to work hard and become an attractive employee for private interests after a Congressional career might keep politicians honest better than ineffectual ethics policies. Dabros' conclusion liberates us from the Sisyphean task of trying to solve a post-elective employment problem we need not address, allowing us to focus our collective energy on solving real problems."

Debra J. Kennedy

"Matthew S. Dabros takes the reader on a fascinating ride through the dark labyrinth of money in politics, untangling the web of delusion and deception passing as democracy in America today. Careers after Congress is both timely and sizzling with energy—a must-read for anyone concerned with the future of this country in 'Trump’s World'!"

Oluwole Owoye

"This is an excellent, thought-provoking, and insightful book with respect to the fact that U.S. congressmen and -women are driven by rational self-interest in the legislative decisions they make while in office. They use their political office in different ways: to satisfy the desires of their constituents, but more important, to pave the way for their careers after Congress. This is definitely a must-read for political science majors nationwide and for anyone who cares about the effective functioning of our democratic process."