Class
Article
Department
Economics and Finance
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
The revolving door refers to the movement of personnel between government and business. The revolving door involves tightening links between government and business. The revolving door between business interests and the public sector could subvert the purpose of government so that instead of serving the general welfare, government serves private purposes. The tendency for public officials to jump back and forth between Congress and the private sector may not be the same for every country. The purpose of this study will be to determine the effect of different forms of government and regulations on the revolving door phenomenon. The study collected members of the United States Congress, both Representatives and Senators, and previous members of the British House of Commons who had left their elected office for any reason. From these lists we randomly selected 100 politicians, one set of 100 politicians for the United States and another set of 100 for the United Kingdom. These randomly selected Senators, Representatives, and Members of Parliament make up the data set the analysis is based upon. The criteria used in the study for politicians who utilize the revolving door is someone who worked on a committee that dealt with the an area of business the politician was then involved with after leaving public office. This number includes lobbyists as those who entered business in the area of question. Conclusions: • There is a drastic difference in the United States and the United Kingdom revolving door scores. • This difference could be due to a combination of the different governing systems and different rules concerning the revolving door the two countries implement. • The data reflects that the United States allows more revolving door connections than the United Kingdom. • There is cause for caution against absolute prohibitions because specialized legislators are likely to be more effective regulators. • Governments must find a balance between specialization and the possibility of abuse and regulatory capture.
Start Date
4-9-2015 9:00 AM
International Revolving Doors
The revolving door refers to the movement of personnel between government and business. The revolving door involves tightening links between government and business. The revolving door between business interests and the public sector could subvert the purpose of government so that instead of serving the general welfare, government serves private purposes. The tendency for public officials to jump back and forth between Congress and the private sector may not be the same for every country. The purpose of this study will be to determine the effect of different forms of government and regulations on the revolving door phenomenon. The study collected members of the United States Congress, both Representatives and Senators, and previous members of the British House of Commons who had left their elected office for any reason. From these lists we randomly selected 100 politicians, one set of 100 politicians for the United States and another set of 100 for the United Kingdom. These randomly selected Senators, Representatives, and Members of Parliament make up the data set the analysis is based upon. The criteria used in the study for politicians who utilize the revolving door is someone who worked on a committee that dealt with the an area of business the politician was then involved with after leaving public office. This number includes lobbyists as those who entered business in the area of question. Conclusions: • There is a drastic difference in the United States and the United Kingdom revolving door scores. • This difference could be due to a combination of the different governing systems and different rules concerning the revolving door the two countries implement. • The data reflects that the United States allows more revolving door connections than the United Kingdom. • There is cause for caution against absolute prohibitions because specialized legislators are likely to be more effective regulators. • Governments must find a balance between specialization and the possibility of abuse and regulatory capture.