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 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]}

See also

• Politics of Switzerland
• Idaho Legislature
• Oregon Legislative Assembly
• Wyoming Legislature
• New Mexico Legislature
• Utah State Legislature
• North Carolina General Assembly