Our 111th Congress has 2 professional athletes in it. There’s an astronaut, two radio talk show hosts, and a driving instructor in there too. There are three carpenters, a meat cutter, a toll booth collector and a river boat captain in our Congress. Our Congress has an FBI agent in there and even a parliamentary aide in the British House of Commons. Of course, according to Congressional Research Service’s Profile of the 111th Congress, most politicians in Congress just list their profession as “politics” or “business.”
Our Congress has more vineyard owners than developers in it. That’s not to say there aren’t any engineers. It’s just that most of them look like Pete Olson, who yes, got a degree in Computer Science but jumped into politics early on and probably couldn’t tell a server from a waiter. Scientists and Engineers for America has a list of members of Congress with science or engineering degrees, and while there are quite a few, the only member I can find that looks to have actual modern programming experience is Steve Scalise from Louisiana. According to his biography he was a systems engineer for a Louisiana technology company before heading to Congress, and according to TransparencyData.com that company was Diamond Data Systems.
We need more developers — especially web developers — in Congress. Here’s why:
First, they’re under-represented as a profession. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 1.3 million computer programmers out there (I suspect our field underreports, too). Compare that to the 759,200 Lawyers who managed to lock up just over 40% of the seats in the 111th Congress. Now granted, one might make the case that Lawyers are better equipped at writing laws and programmers are better equipped at writing code but I’m not so sure that the founders set up the House of Representatives to work that way. I think developers may write more rational public laws than lawyers do and developers are certainly better public communicators than lawyers are.
Second, Government’s problems are becoming increasingly technical. Or the problems we’re facing have technology tied to them in some way. For instance, check out the first piece of legislation this Congress passed: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 isn’t just a 1000+ page bill that’s now a law, it’s also a technical specification for recovery.gov written by people who don’t know how to write specifications. And unlike a malinformed client or boss— if you don’t adhere to this client’s wishes, you’re breaking the law. It’s every croooked consultant’s dream to have a client who views what they sell as a form of mysticism. If they don’t know how to value it, that means the consultant can set the value. And that’s what happens. And it happens all the time. A few developers in Congress could reign in the spending and help their peer representatives appropriate better. If a revitalization of Government technology is going to happen smartly and wisely, we need some developers inside Congress to help lead the way.
Third, great developers are systems fixers and systems hackers. There is no system more ripe for elegant process hacks than the United States House of Representatives. Put a developer in Congress, and they’ll start exposing data on their own. They’ll build systems to make it so they can hear from their constituents better. Just as Ted Kennedy had his staff make the first Congressional website, a developer in Congress will seek to use new technology to make their job easier. That’s what hackers do.
Fourth, web-native developers hire other developers. A developer who is elected a member of Congress that’s a true developer will likely be smart and hire a developer or two as staff. And like I said earlier developers are really important. A few of them working inside Congress — with a Member of Congress who is also a developer — can start bridging the gap between citizens and their government in new ways. The rules, for instance, for what kinds of technology members of the House of Representatives can use to talk to citizens are largely governed by the Rules Committee in the house and managed by the Committee on House Administration. No respectable developer would let their committee’s website look like this. Oh if only Robert Brady could just be replaced by Adrian Holovaty for two weeks!
Finally, Developers are great digital communicators. They’re great at using the medium to connect directly with people in ways that others cannot. They can build their own tools to connect with people, too. With a Developer who understands the guts of the web in a leadership spot inside Congress, Congress can start communicating more effectively online. And as this developer becomes more successful, the rest of Congress may very well follow suit.
Paul Graham comes to mind as the ideal archetype. He’d be a great member of Congress. He’s generally interested in performance, able to make tough decisions, and has a rational mind that’s been conditioned (through reading thousands of investment applications at ycombinator) able to see through a lot of nonsense — even the kind that Washington produces. But Graham is just one of 1.3 million people I’d consider qualified for the job.
So if you’re a developer — consider a run! It pays really well, the long-term payoff is probably just as significant as flipping a small start-up and the potential impact on your country is unparalleled. Plus, you’ll have to raise significantly less money than you would for your next brilliant start-up. Give it a go! Chances are, you’re dissatisfied with your current representative. And chances are even if you manage to throw that one out this year, you’ll be unsatisfied with the next one too. So why not you?