• rusticus1773@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I like the term representative democracy because it implies that politicians should represent their constituents. Getting elected is not a license to vote your personal opinion - it’s to represent every one of your constituents. So if you get elected by one vote margin, you should vote in the middle. I know that’s not reality but it should be.

    • admiralteal@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I don’t know, I think your attitude cleaves pretty tightly to the current president. It’s a thing he gets a lot of flak for from the left – that he compromises and consensus-builds against opponents that do not reciprocate when he ought to just be doing everything the people who voted for him want and ignore the opposition.

      I think you’re alluding to a well-discussed term in the world of political science – delegation versus representation. A delegate who gets voted into office should do exactly what the voters want them to do through some theoretical poll before every decision, injecting no will of their own. A representative is picked based on their own convictions, personality, and belief, and so they should do the things they want and let the voters decide whether or not to keep letting them do so. Big upsides and downsides either way, but the US officials definitely tend to look more like reps than delegates.

      • rusticus1773@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Appreciate your reply. I’m no fan of Biden but he’s a million times better than the guy that clearly tried to subvert the will of the people. Without one man, one vote we have nothing.

        Yeah, in this day and age of much easier communication compared to 1776, I’d like the idea of constituents at least having the ability to vote on policy of interest. Even though I don’t always agree with majority opinion, I continue to respect it.