Suchergebnisse

Lawyers probably hold public office & engage in political activity more than members of any other single occupational group. Examined is the hypothesis that, in Ur areas, individual practitioners are more active politically than lawyers in large law firms. The purpose is to employ explicitly political variables, notably political party identification, to determine the influence of structural legal variables on lawyers' political activity. The data were collected in a mail survey of lawyers in Wichita, Kan during the spring of 1974. Of 708 lawyers surveyed, 351 (49.6%) returned usable questionnaires. A political activity index was constructed from seven items drawn from L. Milbrath, Political Participation (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1965). Lawyers with firms of fewer than five members were classified with solo lawyers; those with firms of eleven or more members, as large firm lawyers. Analysis of the data reveals that political activity and type of practice are related, but political party identification qualifies the relationship. Only for Republicans are type of practice & political activity related at an acceptable level of statistical significance. Political independents are not very politically active, regardless of practice situation. Democratic attorneys in all practice situations exhibit a relatively high propensity to engage in political activity. Democratic lawyers have greater opportunities for participation &/or are more likely to be co-opted into politics than are Republican attorneys. The type of practice, however, seems to affect lawyers' propensities to engage in specific types of political activity, even when party is held constant. Attorneys in small firms or solo practice exhibit a strong tendency to seek & hold office; large firm lawyers tend to restrict their political activities to such other forms of participation as making campaign contributions. The type of legal practice may also help explain the amount of interest lawyers have in politics. Republican solo & small firm lawyers express as much interest in politics as do their Democratic counterparts, but Democrats in small firms are much more likely to be highly active in politics. Legal practice may help inspire political interest or ambition, but the pool of potential leaders available to the parties may influence political participation. 2 Tables. Modified AA.