Opting Out

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Voluntary departure from Congress through retirement is the second most common method of opening positions for new members. The susceptibility to retirement is quite predictable. The decision to retire involves assessing one's ability to do the job, the desirability of the job, and one's vulnerability to involuntary departure. Statistical evidence and interview data indicate that a lessened job desirability leads to most retirement from Congress. As a source of change in the system, retirement removes some of the most conservative and least active members while umquely opening the door to the most liberal new members. Retirement is neither random in its antecedents nor its consequences.