So why do people continue to scream that the President is not listening to the people? In our form of government elected officials are elected and then are supposed to do what they believe is the right thing.
Are these people who want the president to listen to the people, do they want to change our form to a direct democracy?
If that is so, would they like to put things up to popular vote such as abortion, school vouchers, taxes, social security, definition of marriage, term limits on congress, environmental laws, hate crime law and on and on?
I believe the people screaming today about the President only want a direct democracy when it serves their partisan interests but would not like AMericans voting on other issues.
2007-05-10 03:12:43 · 11 answers · asked by rmagedon 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
"In our form of government elected officials are elected and then are supposed to do what they believe is the right thing" - You'd have to be fairly naive to believe that that is still true today.
Politicians get elected by spending huge amounts of money and pandering to whatever groups pay the most. Almost all of them are whores. Elected officials do whatever they feel will keep them in office and that is amost always to vote along party lines (on both sides of the aisle).
Our system is broken and needs fixing badly starting with campaign finance reform.
2007-05-10 03:25:23 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I hear this all the time. I think it's just plain wrong. Perhaps this is just the Republican Party trying to discredit the Democratic Party. The word 'republic' and the word 'democracy' mean just about the same thing. The 'public' in 'republic' is Latin for The People. The 'demo' in 'democracy' is from 'demos', Greek for The People. BOTH mean that the people rule, the people are sovereign, rather than a king, a nobility, a dictator, an oligarchy, a plutocracy or autocracy. A -republic- that is not -democratic- is not a republic at all. And vice versa. Democracy can be a 'pure' democracy or a 'representative' democracy. The latter has usually been found most workable on a national level, though we also have a strong tradition, mostly in the Northeast, of 'town meetings' where the whole population of a town can participate in decisions. The Constitution is not our democracy/republic any more than a blueprint of a 747 can carry hundreds of people across a continent. The Constitution is only the blueprint, the 'ground rules'. Without it, you couldn't have a democracy, just as without blueprints you couldn't have an airplane, but lets not confuse the concept with the thing itself. (Actually, you didn't. But people do.)
2016-05-19 22:00:34 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
True but then again the President is supposed to be serving the people...not his own desires. The government is setup for the sole purpose of serving the public and they very well cannot be doing a good job of that if they refuse to listen to the will of the people.
You're right about wanting will of people when on their side but the same people who are ignoring the people and are ruling are using the SAME EXACT argument about same-sex marriage because they don't like it. All the laws say it is legal and right but lawmakers now don't want to actually DO their job..they want to vote on it..so swings both ways
2007-05-10 03:47:44 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Damn straight! You are right on the nose.
When it comes to issues such as abortion, definition of marriage, and whatever else they imagine is a "personal fundamental right," the left will not accept EITHER direct democracy OR a democratic republic. On those kinds of topics the left want only one kind of government: judicial autocracy.
2007-05-10 03:25:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Democracy, whether direct or representitive thrives on dissent and difference of opinion. Totalitarianism thrives on everyone walking in lockstep with fearless leader. I personally believe if you vote you have the right to complain if the people that win the election are not living up to your expectations or are not doing your will. If you don't vote you have no right to complain.
2007-05-10 03:47:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Because people are stupid and a lot of them don't know very much about American politics in general. We have what is also called "American Democracy" and its meaning is open to interpretation.
People in this country are way way to lazy and dumb for a direct democracy to ever work. We elect people who have people gather info for them on specfic issues and become better educated then normal people on said issues and by better educated i dont mean by watching CNN.
People keep complaining because its their right and because they'd rather live in ignorance than know the unbias truth.
2007-05-10 03:19:28 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
You would be dead on the money. The founders were very much against any sort of mob rule, which is exactly what a direct democracy would be. Minorites could kiss their rights goodbye if such a travesty is ever manifested.
2007-05-10 03:18:32 · answer #7 · answered by thegubmint 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Who doesn't want a direct democracy only when it serves their interests? Do you believe the republicans and neoconservatives would have it any other way?
2007-05-10 04:17:22 · answer #8 · answered by Jake 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, we are a representative republic. We vote for people to represent us in state and national elections.
2007-05-10 04:56:31 · answer #9 · answered by USAisNumber1 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That's fine but what happens when the president think is right to wipe his *** with the constitution which is the rule of all laws. Also, what happens when the president think is right to misguide the public and their representatives to engage in a war. In other words what happens when the president take his assignment to do whatever he think is right but contradicts the people interest.
2007-05-10 03:26:55 · answer #10 · answered by Jose R 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋