Washington State Sausage Making: Attempting to measure the efficiency of the Legislature.

Authors

Jonathon E. Church, University of Washington, TacomaFollow

Author Biography

Jonathon Church is a recent graduate from UW Tacoma with a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. His main area of focus has been in economics, specifically in public policy and behavioral economics. He is a father, husband, and veteran who tends to prioritize them in that order. Currently, he is unemployed but prefers the title entrepreneur. In his free time, Jonathon enjoys fishing, camping, hiking, watching anime with his family, and Friday game night with his brothers.

Document Type

Undergraduate Research Paper

Abstract

This paper explores the importance of understanding the legislative process, particularly in the way a bill dies, in order to critique and measure government efficiency. The information was gathered through interviews with former and current members of the State Legislature and from first-hand experience while working as an intern during the 2022 legislative session. In conjunction with this, part one of the paper utilizes multiple sources, such as Edward D. Seeberger, author of “Sine Die: A Guide to the Washington State Legislative Process,” the State Constitution, and the State Legislatures guides and manuals, to present a detailed description of the various ways in which a bill can fail to make it through the legislative process during the regular session. Part two then expands on how these obstacles in a bill's path can affect the political arena and highlight areas of political friction. The paper then concludes by summarizing the importance of having both an understanding of the legislative process and how that process affects the political landscape, in order to offer constructive criticism and measure government efficiency.

University

University of Washington Tacoma

Course

TPOLS 497 Political Internship In State Government

Instructor

Katie Baird

Recommended Citation

Church, Jonathon E. (2022) "Washington State Sausage Making: Attempting to measure the efficiency of the Legislature.," Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/access/vol6/iss1/3