The role of elected officials

[red_frog]

Do you run for office because you think you know how things should work and you'd like to make that happen (through legal channels and stating your intentions while you're running for office), or because you want to execute the will of the majority?

Comments

[readherring]

Do I have to be an elected official to answer?

[red_frog]

No.

[jrtom]

Mostly the former, although I'd like to think that the way that I think that things ought to work is usually how most people would want them to work if they'd been able to make a profession out of learning the facts and the best ways of solving various kinds of problems. But if my view of things conflicts with that of my hypothetical constituents, then generally speaking, I win, and it's my job (if I so choose) to convince them that my decision was the right one if I want to be re-elected.

This kind of question, however, is why I occasionally wistfully think of other means of electing representatives. (Such as one Heinlein suggested in The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, in which a representative is simply someone who's gained a certain minimum number of votes...and whose clout is proportional to the number of votes they received (possibly on a log scale to prevent things from getting too unbalanced).) With the current political polarization--about which I've already gone on enough recently--basically practically anything that you do is

[firinel]

I think an elected official should manage to do both. Either the latter happens to be the former, or if the former really is for the best, then the person should be able to convince a substantial amount of the people it's also the latter.

[stevenredux]

I'll use this for my answer too. :-)

[liliha]

What she said.

My dad is mayor of the town he (and I) grew up in. I would definitely say that he went in to office with the intention to do A, but B is often unavoidable.

[red_frog]

What if the substantial number of people is not the majority, but it's something you consider important? Do you let it go?

(Also, how do you find out what the people think after you're in office? California-style? Polls?)

I prefer A and it's easier to imagine myself running because I think I can do a better job than because I think that The Will of The People is not being executed on. But I can see that if you don't happen to be me and therefore right :) then that's potentially dangerous.

[jabber]

An excellent question.

Off-topic question

[liliha]

Awhile ago, perhaps as much as a year, you posed a religious question. I can't remember what you asked specifically, but I know that in my comment I described my understanding of Jesus in probably the clearest terms I've ever managed. I thought I'd saved that post to Memories, but it isn't there, and I wondered if you could, without too much trouble, locate it. I'm willing to search all the way through, but if you happen to know where it is, I'd like to save myself the trouble.

Re: Off-topic question

[red_frog]

I wish I could help, but I do very little organizing of this journal so I'd find it by the same methods you would. Sorry. :(

Re: Off-topic question

[liliha]

Alas. Thanks anyway! I'll begin the hunt.