Archive for category Election
Why So Many Politicians Are Lawyers
So this election season has hit its culmination. After all the votes are counted, it will go on hiatus for another two years. As I was filling in my ballot like millions of other fellow citizens, I noticed that many of the races for various elected offices had a distinct similarity. No, I’m not talking about the fact that just about every one of them was a Democrat versus a Republican. I noticed that almost every major race had an incumbent politician (and former practicing attorney) versus another attorney of some sort. It was then I asked myself, “Why are so many politicians lawyers?” I did some research and found that just over 50% of the U.S. Senate is made up of former lawyers and around 35% or 40% of the U.S. House of Representatives are former lawyers as well.
Now, an obvious reason why many of our elected officials are former lawyers is because they are the ones who write our laws. Legal writing is very different than, say, this article. It’s overly technical (for good reason) and extremely specific. Not to mention that bills passed through congress are often hundreds of pages long. So, it’s probably a good thing that many politicians who write our laws have spent a good amount of time studying it and practicing it.
But the most probable reason that explains why so many lawyers get elected to office is that successful attorneys are often very personable and charismatic. Think of how many prosecutors or disability attorneys, who have been charged with making a case of trying to convince an entire jury that the law is on their side, have been elected to office. That passion in the courtroom where their arguments become almost like a performance easily translates to the campaign trail where, if they want to be elected, they have to convince complete strangers that they are a better choice than the other candidate. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: election, worlds of law