The Informed Voter
I heard New Jersey’s
Representative Bill Pascrell say on Washington Journal this morning that in
these times politics is more “Celebrity” than politics. Isn't that sad? Isn't
it sad that elections are won and lost because of one candidate’s looks and
ability to be “entertaining” as opposed to his ability to govern, his
knowledge, his world view, his character, and (also, very important) his work ethic–a
character trait missing in so many? Yet, isn't that how so very many of us
determine for whom we vote? My granddaddy was a Whig, my daddy’s a Whig, and by
gum and by golly, I’m a Whig. No one is going to change my mind.
In his book, The Myth of the Rational Voter–Why Democracies Choose
Bad Policies, the author, Bryan Caplan tell us that “In theory, democracy
is a bulwark against socially harmful policies, but in practice it gives them a
safe harbor”. He goes on to ask the question, “How can this Paradox of Democracy
be solved? One answer is that the people’s ‘representatives’ have turned the
tables on them….A second answer, which complements the first, is that voters
are deeply ignorant about politics. They do not know who their representatives
are, much less what they do. This tempts politicians to pursue personal agendas
and sell themselves to donors”.
Think about this. Isn't it true
as I said yesterday, “With freedom comes responsibility”? Where do you see
responsibility when, in the course of our elections, voter (a citizens’) opinions
vary from one day to another in the polls, swinging back and forth (not unlike the sword of Damocles) with the political
commercials? How can political propaganda find a place in the mind of a truly
informed citizen?
Ronald Miller
mtss86@bellsouth.net
The purpose of establishing a republic, as opposed to a less democratic form of government, is to keep the rulers accountable to the citizens. In theory, when a politician acts in a way that is against the interests of the citizens, the rational citizens will vote someone else into office. But this is only true when the citizens are rational and informed. And it is not enough that some of the citizens be informed and rational, but that a great majority of the citizens are. Otherwise, politicians can only be elected based on popularity (name recognition, attractiveness, amount of advertising).
ReplyDeleteI can't intelligently comment on how informed and rational citizens of the U.S. have been in the past, but it is clear that, at this point in time, there are not nearly enough informed rational citizens to ensure a minimally competent government.
Frankly, I don't know what it would take for a cultural shift in the right direction. The political class reaps immense benefit from maintaining the status quo. They have had 230 years to sink their claws into institutions that perpetuate a distracted, short-sighted, narcissistic citizenry. Maybe, because we can't trust the elected politicians to make good choices, the next best thing would be to severely limit their power so that whatever harm they do, it won't be too impactful. Of course, this would require either the political class acting to limit their own power (HA!) or rational and informed citizens acting in concert to affect such a change... so we're back to where we started. Where does that leave us?
Ryan: You got it. I agree. It will take, as you said, "rational and informed citizens acting in concert to effect such a change". As we have seen from history, this usually happens only in crisis. I'm hoping in these trying times that the citizenry will act in concert. We'll see.
DeleteThanks for your comment.
Ron
It is too bad that a lot of our citizens are more interested in what Kim Kardashian will name her baby, but don't know what sequester means?
DeleteWe've got a long way to go before people truly take an interest in government.
Beth Miller-Tipton
I couldn't have said it any better. Hats off Ryan.
ReplyDelete