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 Montana,[2] Nevada,[3] Idaho,[4] New Mexico,[5] North Carolina,[6] North Dakota,[7] Oregon,[8] Utah,[9] Virginia[10] and Wyoming.[11]
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."[12][13]
^"Die Legislative ist ein Miliz-Parlament - SWI swissinfo.ch". Retrieved 2016-12-13.
^"Montana State Legislature". Government of the 'State of Montana'. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"Nevada Legislature". Government of Nevada. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"Idaho Legislature". Government of the 'State of Idaho'.
^"New Mexico Legislature (Legislatura de Nuevo México)". Government of New Mexico. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"North Carolina General Assembly". Government of North Carolina. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"North Dakota Legislative Assembly". North Dakota State Government. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"Oregon Legislative Assembly". Government of the U.S. state of Oregon. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"Utah State Legislature". Government of Utah. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"Virginia General Assembly". Government of Virginia. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^"Wyoming State Legislature". Government of the 'State of Wyoming'. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
^Madison, James ("Publius") (February 27, 1788). "Federalist No. 62". The Federalist. New York Packet.
^"Federalist No. 62". The Avalon Project. Lillian Goldman Law Library, 'Yale Law School'. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
and 23 Related for: Citizen legislature information
citizenlegislature is a legislative chamber made up primarily of citizens who have a full-time occupation besides being a legislator. Such citizen legislatures...
roles for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve the same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate...
legislature, but a private citizen when paying taxes or when undertaking a citizen's arrest in a public place. A person may remain a private citizen even...
General Assembly: A CitizenLegislature Responds" (PDF). Joint Project on Term Limits. National Conference of State Legislatures. p. 1. Archived from...
judge the qualifications of its own members. The Mississippi Legislature is a citizenlegislature; most legislators have full-time occupations unrelated to...
The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives...
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House...
Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and...
The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate...
University. p. 83. Callenbach, Ernest; Phillips, Michael (1985). A CitizenLegislature. Berkeley/Bodega California: Banyan Tree Books / Clear Glass. Mitchell...
assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87...
119°45′58″W / 39.16194°N 119.7661°W / 39.16194; -119.7661 The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with...
initiated referendum or citizen-initiated referendum. In an indirect initiative, the proposed measure is first referred to the legislature, and then if the proposed...
the voting public a veto on laws adopted by the elected legislature, as in Switzerland. A citizen-initiated referendum, also called an initiative, empowers...
defeat of a specific candidate, and raised limits on hard money. The CitizenLegislature & Political Act sponsored by Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) would have...
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: the New York State Senate and...
the term "citizen journalist" and replace it with "citizen news gatherer". "Professional journalists cover fires, floods, crime, the legislature, and the...
The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol...
California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes...
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives...
493411°W / 38.576572; -121.493411 The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly...
serve as members of parliament part-time (so-called "Milizsystem" or Citizenlegislature). Switzerland has a rich party landscape. The four parties represented...
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in...
Global Information