![\"Capitol](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/05\/Capitol_Building_Full_View.jpg\")
<\/a>(Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
One argument that has recently been raised against Senator Mitt Romney\u2019s vote to convict President Donald J. Trump on the the first article of impeachment runs as follows:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
- \n
- A majority of Utahns \u2014 perhaps in the low to mid-50% range \u2014 favored the acquittal of President Trump.<\/li>\n
- Congressional representatives should follow the wishes of those they represent.<\/li>\n
- Mitt Romney failed to comply with (2).<\/li>\n
- Therefore, Mitt Romney failed in his responsibility as a senator.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And surely it\u2019s true that congressional representatives are sent, precisely, to represent their constituents in Washington DC.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But with what degree of exactness<\/em> are they supposed to reflect the specific views of those who elected them?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
If they are intended to mirror the views of their constituents exactly, if they are supposed to be mere barometers of popular sentiment, then it seems that the Senate and the House of Representative have become redundant. \u00a0After all, we have the technological capacity today \u2014 think of American Idol<\/em> \u2014 to conduct virtually instant direct plebiscites by electronic means. \u00a0Every day, every registered voter could simply cast a ballot via cell phone \u2014 yes or no \u2014 on such matters as<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cH.R. 504: DHS Field Engagement Accountability Act<\/span><\/p>\n
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Department of Homeland Security to develop an engagement strategy with fusion centers, and for other purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The results would then be tabulated in the United States Capitol, the now-vacant House and Senate chambers having been converted into massive computer data centers. \u00a0It would be easy to know, on any given day, that, say, 51.7% of the voters of Utah support<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cS. 2107: Protecting America\u2019s Food and Agriculture Act of 2019<\/span><\/p>\n
A bill to increase the number of CBP Agriculture Specialists and support staff in the Office of Field Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and for other purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Obviously, the Founding Fathers intended nothing like this. \u00a0If they had, there would really be little point in Senate and House hearings to which ordinary citizens seldom if ever pay attention. \u00a0Why should representatives or senators be better informed than Joe Public and Jane Citizen if their assignment is merely to cast the vote that 50.0000001% of all Janes and Joes prefer? \u00a0The Senate is sometimes referred to, whether accurately or not, as \u201cthe world\u2019s greatest deliberative body.\u201d \u00a0But what\u2019s the point of such deliberations, if they don\u2019t involve every constituent? \u00a0If senators are merely to mechanically reproduce the sentiments of the electorate?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, the House of Representatives was designed to reflect the popular will fairly closely. \u00a0That\u2019s why members of the House are, effectively, subject to recall every two years. \u00a0Even so, members engage in hearings and debates and negotiations. \u00a0They don\u2019t simply poll their districts and vote accordingly.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Senate, by contrast, was deliberately constructed by the Framers of the Constitution to be relatively unresponsive<\/em> to the popular will. \u00a0Senators face elections only every six<\/em> years. \u00a0That\u2019s the longest \u201celectoral gap\u201d in American politics. \u00a0And \u2014 this is extremely significant \u2014 although, following the ratification of the\u00a0Seventeenth Amendment\u00a0in 1913, they are now elected by popular vote, from 1789\u00a0to 1913 senators were chosen by the legislatures of the states they represented. \u00a0This was a deliberately undemocratic move by the Framers.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It seems obvious to me that, in our constitutional republic, our representatives are chosen for their character, judgment, and general political \u201cphilosophy.\u201d \u00a0They are not intended to be merely mechanical devices for registering the views of those who voted for them. \u00a0Elections every two to six years are intended to constrain them, but not to micromanage them.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether one agrees with Mitt Romney\u2019s vote or not \u2014 that has never really been my issue in these posts \u2014 he was within the scope and obligations of his duty as a member of the United States Senate to follow his personal best judgment in casting it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 One argument that has recently been raised against Senator Mitt Romney\u2019s vote to convict President Donald J. Trump on the the first article of impeachment runs as follows: \u00a0 A majority of Utahns \u2014 perhaps in the low to mid-50% range \u2014 favored the acquittal of President Trump. Congressional representatives should follow the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8370,8379,8373,8367,8184,8208,326,8388,8391,8382,4802,2361,8364,8376,8385],"class_list":["post-82794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-congressman","tag-democracy","tag-direct-election","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-impeachment","tag-mitt","tag-mitt-romney","tag-poll","tag-popular-will","tag-republic","tag-romney","tag-senate","tag-senator","tag-terms","tag-vote"],"yoast_head":"\n
Civics 101: Senator Romney and Representative Government<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" One argument that has recently been raised against Senator Mitt Romney's vote to convict President Donald J. Trump on the the first article\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/02\/civics-101-senator-romney-and-representative-government.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Civics 101: Senator Romney and Representative Government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" One argument that has recently been raised against Senator Mitt Romney's vote to convict President Donald J. 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