Robinson — Volume 65, Issue 4

This article traces the dramatic decline in the prevalence of lawyers in U.S. politics, particularly Congress, from the nation's founding through the present. Lawyers historically dominated both legislative and judicial branches; in the mid-nineteenth century, nearly eighty percent of Congress members were lawyers, declining to under sixty percent by the 1960s and dropping further to approximately forty percent by the 114th Congress. Robinson examines the causes of this decline, attributing it to increased specialization in both law and politics and the emergence of a specialized political class comprising political aides and members of civil society organizations, who now compete with lawyers for political positions. The author argues this decline has significant implications for the U.S. legal system. Lawyer-members of Congress have historically fostered centralized courts and a strong emphasis on adversarial legalism, where lawyers and courts dominate policy implementation. The loss of lawyer-politicians in legislative bodies corresponds with declining presence in courts generally, creating a judiciary increasingly composed of specialists with narrower career backgrounds. The article presents evidence that lawyer-members uniquely support civil legal aid funding and judicial independence protections, suggesting their departure diminishes institutionalized legal system advocacy.

Topics: Constitutional Law · Federalism · Legal History

Keywords: lawyer-politicians · Congress · occupational background · judiciary · legal profession · specialized political class · adversarial legalism