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June 23, 2006
Our representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government in which citizens, through an election process, delegate authority to elected representatives. This differs from a direct democracy, where the people as whole, by a simple majority, make the decisions. In a country the size of the United States (almost 300 million people) and a state the size of California (38 million people), this is an impractical option and even if it were possible, it leads to mob mentalities and decisions of passion, not reason. For these reasons and others, the Founding Fathers wisely gave us representative democracy, which we use at the federal, state and local levels.
The idea is that the people we elect will serve not as our proxies, but in our best interests. In the case of California Assembly members, they represent the best interests of approximately 500,000 people – making it impossible to make each of us happy on every issue.
Removing cynicism (personal goals, donor influence, party loyalty, etc.) from the equation, their responsibility to is to make the decisions they believe are in the best interest of the majority of their constituents, without hurting the minority. They need to balance short and long-term interests, as well as fiscal responsibilities.
In California, polls show we are dissatisfied with our representatives (roughly 75% of us believe they are not doing a good job) and our system for electing them. This gives us two options, repair the system, so that we feel better represented by our elected officials (redistricting, open primaries, etc.) or continue to circumvent the system (ballot initiatives, term limits, etc.).
I plan on writing a column on this issue and would welcome your feedback and ideas regarding representative democracy, repairing the system and/or circumventing the system. Your views on this issue are important as I try to better understand what the people of California are looking for. Consider it our own version of representative democracy, except I wasn’t elected☺
Your reminder of the distinction between representative and direct democracy is well taken. We often forget that the job of our representatives is not to act as our mouthpieces, but as our appointed custodians. The job of representatives is not to vote exactly as the majority of the district would vote, but rather to vote in a way that serves the public interest of the district. That may seem like a subtle distinction, but it's an important one. It's the difference between mob rule and deliberative democracy.
As for suggestions for improvement: For all its flaws, the system does provide voters with the full power to dump all their representatives if they don't like the job they're doing. The main reasons for high incumbancy (despite low performance ratings) is a lack of engagement by the voters. Sure, gerrymandering stacks the deck. But if voters would really examine their representatives' voting records, talk with one another in civic forums, write to their representatives, and vote thoughtfully, the performance of our representatives (defined as the match between their votes and our interests) would increase markedly. Education, engagement, transparency, debate -- these are the critical hallmarks of a healthy democracy.
Posted by: Steve at June 23, 2006 09:06 AM