When a prospective politician runs for office, they are likely to campaign in their hometown in order to raise the funds, and ultimately obtain the necessary number of votes, needed to gain the desired office. Candidates make many promises to potential voters throughout their campaigns; voters who agree with and are passionate about these specific ideas are likely to contribute their time and efforts into helping the candidate to achieve office. However, the sad truth is that once a full-time legislator has been elected to represent their people all the way at the Capitol, many of these promises fail to come to fruition. Many will blame the fact that politicians are nothing but lying scoundrels, but even this is not always the root of the problem.

The trouble with full-time legislators is that, upon being elected, they re-locate to the capitol where they can regularly convene to pass new measures. It may seem that this allows legislators to carry out their job more efficiently, as opposed to part-time legislature. However, in reality, this simply results in more regulations imposed on the people than there would have been otherwise. What is worse, though, is that because of human nature, legislators are usually influenced by their peer group. When they are elected, a peer-group shift takes place: the newly elected lawmaker is no longer surrounded by the local groups whom they were elected to represent. Instead, the peer-group becomes fellow lawmakers and special interest lobbyists at the capitol. This is why voters often become unhappy with what so often amounts to empty promises resulting from this peer-group shift.

For this reason, it is important that constituents from local jurisdictions who are responsible for the election of the lawmakers in question hold them accountable for their votes when they fail to align with the ideas the politician seemed to stand for prior to being elected . If necessary, local groups should seek out a more well-grounded candidate who is less likely to fold under the immense pressures of a full-time legislative system. Ultimately, the best solution is to abolish full-time legislatures altogether, effectively eliminating these major flaws in the system, and instead forcing lawmakers to live amongst their constituents, under the laws they help pass, rather than within their own society, of sorts, at the Capitol.🔹