Oregon Business Association

May 2, 2008

Legislative "Ten Percenters"

by Sen. Jason Atkinson

Do you remember “the Fonz” from Happy Days?  He’d walk in, pop two thumbs up and say "Aaay!" and girls would magnetically be pulled into his arms.  While the Oregon Legislature isn’t exactly Happy Days, there are a few Fonzies, a few Richies, a few Joanies, one or two Mr. Cs and Mrs. Cs, several Ralph Malphs and Potsies, and the occasional sighting of Pinky Tuscadero.

But the problem is Happy Days was a fictional TV show, and many Oregonians view public service and the Oregon Legislature the same way—as fiction—not real and not relevant.  I’ll confess it bothers me.  Why can’t we restore honor to pubic service?

Across the United States, there is a lack of respect for the institution of public service.  At the same time, however, people are yearning for statesmanship.  I am working on a new book for which I have conducted exploratory research on this topic.  Credibility seems to be at an all-time low.  Today, the “higher calling” and honor of public service is buried under the layers of ten second sound-bite skepticism of the mainstream media.

So where do we go?  More grandstanding politicians or less partisanship? Fewer Fonzies and more Mrs. Cs?  More profiles in courage and less special interest pandering?  What kind of person do you trust?  Who do you think can restore honor to public service?

For the past six years I have taught a college seminar at the Oregon Capitol and tested the following premise on my students who study the Oregon Senate: “10% of the legislature holds the other 90% together.”  They spend the entire semester watching, studying, learning, and quietly paying attention to see if they agree or disagree.

The final exam is a piece of cake: it’s a blank piece of paper students don’t write their names on.  They simply write “No” or “Yes” to my premise.  The catch is if they write, “Yes,” they have to write down the names of the senators “holding it all together.”

I started teaching this seminar during one of the darkest partisan periods in the Oregon legislature.  I, too, have wondered where have all the statesmen gone?  Why can’t we do better?  What will it take to change the nature, the tone of public service, and return it to people first, issues prioritized, and leadership demanding a higher level of performance?

I think I know the answer and I know how we get there.  It is not nearly as complicated as critics complain it is.  It starts with what I call the “ten percenters”.

For six years the final exam answers to my premise have been almost unanimously “Yes” and the names of the “ten percenters” are nearly always the same.  The fascinating thing is this: the 10% of legislators holding the other 90% together are never the ones you read about in the paper, hear about on talk radio, or see on TV.  Some are Republican, some Democrat, some rural, some urban, but grandstanders do not make the list.  The “ten percenters” quietly and humbly make Oregon work.  Fonzie, no matter how cool, never makes the list.

These “ten percenters” you elect use their responsibility to restore honor, relevance, and trust in Oregon politics.  Think of what would happen in Oregon if we could raise it from 10% to 20%?  Restoring honor to public service starts by changing our personal views of Oregon politics and those who serve.