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Q&A: Politics

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Question: For the past six months, I've been thinking that I would major in history and pursue a career teaching history in high school. However, recently I've been seriously thinking about a career in politics, not as a politician, but working on the staff of one, perhaps working toward becoming a chief of staff to some senator or representative. I could always pursue my teaching career later if the politics thing doesn't pan out, but I feel like my priority should be politics first, because I assume it is easier to become a teacher later on, than to enter the political world after 10 years of teaching high school.
I was wondering what types of jobs are there in the field of politics besides being a politician, and what exactly is required to get a start? Some friends are pushing me to do law school after undergrad, which is a possibility, but I feel as though a double major in history and political science (what I'm currently thinking about), plus a few internships along the way, should be enough to get me started. Then it seems it's all about performance and connections.
Answer:

AboutUsCarolCarol:

Do some volunteering for an area politician. This is a good way to see how the "machine" works, that is, how they run their office, how communication is handled, what types of problems come up and how they are dealt with. You may even be able to use the experience for classroom credit. Even if you don't want to be a politician you could get a good view of what goes on in the field of politics and who deals with the politician from the outside.

Also, with the upcoming presidential race this is a great time to volunteer for one of the campaigns. An election won't come around again in your next 4 college years.

Your academic pursuits sound good to prepare you for a lot of paths - law school or politician.

Jobs related to politician but NOT politician... speech writer, city manger (not elected position but dealing with politicians), election consultant, political analyst (be the next Tim Russert), lobbyist, political commentary writer, ambassador, something in international relations or negotiations. Good luck in your exploration!


Here’s a view from another CareerZing visitor who works in politics:

I agree with Ms. Horner, volunteering (or an internship) is a wonderful way to learn about politics from the inside out. You should also be thinking about what level of government you are interested in: local, state or federal, and within that: legislative, executive or judicial. For general information on Congress (federal, legislative), visit the Library of Congress website at http://thomas.loc.gov/teachers/ .  If you are interested in the Executive Branch, go to Ben's Guide to US Government. There are a wide range of jobs available in each of the Departments that I won’t go into here.

Regarding Congress, each Member (House and Senate) have both a Washington, D.C., office and at least one office in the state they represent. The main job of staff is to do all the work that the Member is unable to do: communicate daily with constituents that call or write in, take meetings, attend briefings, research, monitor legislation, help draft legislation, and the list goes on. Within each individual office, jobs are either administrative (answering phones, scheduling), legislative (working on legislation, monitoring votes), press or political (fundraising – which actually can not be done on federal property or with federal resources, so all of that work is done outside of the congressional office.) Typically staffs in Washington handle the legislative aspect while staff in the district commonly concentrates on local needs and individual assistance (helping constituents with Medicaid reimbursements, Veterans benefits, etc). Each Member of Congress is also a member of one or more Committees (Agriculture, Defense, Education, etc.: http://congress.indiana.edu/ ) and Subcommittees. Committee staff provides administrative and legislative support to the Committee on a whole and to individual members. There are 435 Congressmen and 100 Senators, with over 30 Committees between the two Chambers, so there are thousands of opportunities out there. The size of each office is solely at the discretion of the Member, but House Washington offices are typically 6-11 people, state offices 3-11 people and Senate Washington offices 30-40 people. And be prepared to start from the bottom up – it is not uncommon to start on Capitol Hill answering phones, sorting mail and giving tours of the Capitol, even those people with law degrees!

Positions are typically as follows, and some jobs are combined, but please note this is not exhaustive: Intern (paid or unpaid temporary job, duties as assigned), Staff Assistant (answer phones, sort mail, give tours), Legislative Correspondence (entry level Legislative Assistant: log in mail, send responses), Legislative Assistant (track legislation in particular issues areas, write mail, take meetings), Legislative Director (directs legislative program for the office), Chief of Staff (top assistant to the Member - manages offices), Press Secretary, Scheduler, Caseworker (handles individual constituent issues), District Director (manages state office) and Systems Administrator (manages computer system).

Ultimately you may be interested in taking a class in Politics 101 before you make any decisions regarding your major. More often that not, a major in politics is not a prerequisite for working in a Congressional or Committee office; however, it is certainly advisable if you believe you will ultimately pursue it as a career (however temporary). Like in any “company”, law degrees are required for some positions.

Hope this is helpful.

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