Posted by
The Secular Conservative on Monday, January 08, 2007 9:22:29 PM
I heard this complaint again today, which I hear every now and then since college: "[My senator] is not representing the needs of the people." This one came from a liberal fanatic, but it's common across the spectrum. I know that reasonable people can disagree on this, but I have my opinion why this is an ignorant statement demonstrating the speaker's misunderstanding of how our representative government works.
If we were a fluid democracy, it would be appropriate for the government to frequently check with the people before making legislative decisions. Since we're not a democracy, but a democratic republic, we elect representatives to make decisions on our behalf. What that means to me, as a voter:
- My opportunity to affect policy decisions is my vote for a representative
- The representative that I vote for should most closely believe what I believe so that s/he will make decisions similar to my own
- The representative is being elected to REPRESENT me, so there is no need to come back and ask me what I think
- Representation means the person is acting in my stead
- If I don't like the decisions my representative makes, I will vote against him/her at the next opportunity
It amazes me that many people actually believe if we picket or call or email or blog, we expect our representatives to gauge the public mood and vote accordingly. I don't object to voters trying to influence representatives, but it amazes me that voters actually expect representatives to check the pulse of the nation before making a decision. I would rather elect someone who KNOWS what s/he believes and has the conviction to HOLD those beliefs, even in the face of public opinion.
This is why ideology is important. If we expect our representatives to simply vote based on public opinion at the time, we can elect mindless automatons (or moderates) who simply wait for a consensus and register a vote. I'd rather elect a thinking person who can spend the time that I can't to evaluate data and make intelligent decisions. They represent me when I can't represent myself.
-tsc