Whatever happened to our majority-rule Democracy?
Until recently, in my na?ve way, I thought that this country had a majority-rule democracy and that those who were elected as our representatives were supposed to do just that ? represent the views of the majority that elected them ?and (really) have no personal or prejudicial views about providing a voice for their constituents. Ideally, the government should be run by the people through constant polling to reflect viewpoint and attitude changes over time. With 300-million people that”s not practical, so we depend on our representatives to maintain contact with their constituencies and, hopefully, avoid prejudiced lobbyists that tend to override popular opinion. And be consistent with the issues that elected him/her for the period he/she was elected for. Again, no personal views or issues.
Very recently a Southern congressman changed his affiliation from one party (which had elected him) to the other. The media and his comments seem to indicate the move was arbitrary, and no evidence to show that the change was approved by his constituents.
Personally, I feel such a move ? between elections ? should not be allowed. If it turns out that the change was not based on a change in constituents, the move is reprehensible.
Another issue showed up when a Mid-west senator, apparently, had to be bribed with pork to vote the way his constituents favored. To me that is scary. Even scarier in that his vote was not needed for a simple majority, but to avoid a very un-democratic rule. A very small group of malcontents can bring the U.S. Legislature to a screeching stop by filibustering. Seems to me to be a combination of blackmail and screw the wishes of the majority! And it takes a super-majority to close debate. Just think, a senator from a very small state, elected by a very small majority, can defeat the wishes of a vast majority. This is democracy?
Supposedly, too, this country sets great store with the concept of the separation of church and state, yet we are seeing a merging of the two with the health bill. If a member of the legislature votes his belief on the issue of abortion, rather than reflecting the feelings of their constituents, they are just plain not doing the job for which they were elected and are doing away with another chunk of our democracy. Same thing almost exactly on the gay rights issue!
Perhaps, after a while, communications will advance so that we can simulate town meetings electronically, and assure that our legislators do what their constituents wish.
Guthrie Worth
Lakeport
