On the Knife's Edge
Public Officials and the Life Cycle
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12377870 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Burdett A Loomis (University of Kansas, corresponding author), Burdett Loomis |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 03 |
| Pages | 536-542 |
| Publication date | 1984-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | PS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1049096500024501 |
| OpenAlex | W2319711565 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 11 |
LaRuth, at forty, was on the knife's edge. Another two years and he'd be a man of influence, and therefore ineligible for any politics outside the House–or not ineligible, but shopworn, no longer new, no longer fresh. He would be ill-suited, and there were other practical considerations as well, because who wanted to be a servant for twelve or fourteen years and then surrender an opportunity to be master? Not LaRuth. So the time for temporizing was nearly past. If he was going to forsake the House and reach for the Senate (a glamorous possibility), he had to do it soon. Ward Just, The Congressman Who Loved Flaubert Ward Just's fictional congressman LaRuth faces two distinct, but related pressures. First, for members of the House, there are few opportunities for advancement. This truncated “structure of opportunities” forces tough choices upon ambitious politicians. The second pressure is no less profound. Ticking away are the dual clocks of chronological age and congressional seniority. Most members seek higher office early in their congressional career (though this may be changing some), when their ties to the House are least strong and the fires of ambition burn the hottest. Much as the externally imposed structure of opportunities affects career choices, so too do the roughly defined internal mandates of human development
Congressman · Countdown · nobody · Political science · Politics · Seniority · Servant · Sociology · Surrender · Engineering · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US
Voluntary Retirement from the U. S. House
Career Intentions and Electoral Performance of Members of the U. S. House
Risk-Bearing and Progressive Ambition
Strategy and Choice in the 1982 Congressional Elections
The United States Senate as a Presidential Incubator
A Theory of Political Ambition
Political Ambitions and the Behavior of Incumbent Politicians
House Careerists
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,06 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2009 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |