Great article--the trick has always been getting a popularly elected government to act predominantly for the actual public welfare, rather than to the benefit of a political cadre--whatever the ideological orientation. This is a necessarily sophisticated endeavor that nevertheless must educate and appeal to a majority of the public. A necessary ingredient has to be a popular oversight of governmental operations at all levels: federal, state, and local.
Danielle, I've read recently that "all party primaries" or "ranked choice voting" are not the best answer to our bear trap problem and that instead we should just eliminate congressional districts all together and have a single election (no primaries at all) in which the top vote getters all receive a congressional seat. So, if your state has, say, 31 allotted representatives, then the top 31 vote getters on election day each get a seat. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this alternative.
Danielle, your comment about confidence calls to mind something that Benjamin Franklin published in his home town of Boston in 1722. Under the pseudonym Silence Dogood (pretending to be a woman), Franklin published something from Cato's Letters extolling the virtues of the freedom of speech (see https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-01-02-0015):
The following portion was fairly famous then and later:
“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech; which is the Right of every Man, as far as by it, he does not hurt or controul the Right of another."
The following portion (underscoring that public servants are the mere agents of the people) was less famous:
“The Administration of Government, is nothing else but the Attendance of the Trustees of the People upon the Interest and Affairs of the People: And as it is the Part and Business of the People, for whose Sake alone all publick Matters are, or ought to be transacted, to see whether they be well or ill transacted; so it is the Interest, and ought to be the Ambition, of all honest Magistrates, to have their Deeds openly examined, and publickly scann’d: Only the wicked Governours of Men dread what is said of them."
Great article--the trick has always been getting a popularly elected government to act predominantly for the actual public welfare, rather than to the benefit of a political cadre--whatever the ideological orientation. This is a necessarily sophisticated endeavor that nevertheless must educate and appeal to a majority of the public. A necessary ingredient has to be a popular oversight of governmental operations at all levels: federal, state, and local.
Danielle, I've read recently that "all party primaries" or "ranked choice voting" are not the best answer to our bear trap problem and that instead we should just eliminate congressional districts all together and have a single election (no primaries at all) in which the top vote getters all receive a congressional seat. So, if your state has, say, 31 allotted representatives, then the top 31 vote getters on election day each get a seat. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this alternative.
Danielle, your comment about confidence calls to mind something that Benjamin Franklin published in his home town of Boston in 1722. Under the pseudonym Silence Dogood (pretending to be a woman), Franklin published something from Cato's Letters extolling the virtues of the freedom of speech (see https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-01-02-0015):
The following portion was fairly famous then and later:
“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech; which is the Right of every Man, as far as by it, he does not hurt or controul the Right of another."
The following portion (underscoring that public servants are the mere agents of the people) was less famous:
“The Administration of Government, is nothing else but the Attendance of the Trustees of the People upon the Interest and Affairs of the People: And as it is the Part and Business of the People, for whose Sake alone all publick Matters are, or ought to be transacted, to see whether they be well or ill transacted; so it is the Interest, and ought to be the Ambition, of all honest Magistrates, to have their Deeds openly examined, and publickly scann’d: Only the wicked Governours of Men dread what is said of them."