CHAPTER 4 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT Chouni 66 rested with a single party.The situation is different elsewhere.In Great Britian, West Germany,Japan,and many other democracies,when the voters go to the polls,one party is almost certain to capture full control of legislative and Tve power,leaving no doubt that its policy agenda should p The roots of the American situation lie two centuries deep,in the framers' REPRESENTATIVE Histrust of popular majorities.The delegates to the Philadelphia convention 代a. built significant antimajoritarian devices into the Constitution.In the Framers' (宁是：要园艺作、 GOVERNMENT:PROVIDING judgment,the great risk of popular government was tyranny of the majority Inflamed by a personality or issue of the moment,the majority could become an 礼冷观) rrattonal mob with no regard for others.There would be times.James Madison POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY wrote in Federalist No.10,when "the]passions...,not the reason of the 3lell couplics public,would sit in judgment."Moreover,an unreasoning majority was hard to 可想至（人a明手） contain because it would arrogantly believe that its view should prevail over any view held by a minority of citizens.Yet the minority also had its rights and The people must be govemed bya mjority,resides.But how isthe interests,including property,personal freedom,and a fair chance to persuade 于有三化动加照 the majority of the merits of its viewpoint. efte fudi dewa sense of this majority to be obtuined? Fisher Ames (1788 The challenge for the Framers was to devise a goverment that allowed for majority rule but also protected minority interests and individual rights.No C人anaa form of self-government could eliminate the threat of majority tyranny,but the Framers believed that this danger would be greatly diminished by properly structured institutions.The United States would have not a democracy,but a 5w.) republic.Today the terms democracy and republic are used interchangeably to refer to a system of government in which ultimate political power rests with the people through their capacity to choose representatives in free and open elections.In 1787 however"democracy"and "republic"referred to quite different governing systems.When the people gathered in a large assembly to decide public issues directly,that was democratic govemment.When elected he Iran-Contra arms-trading scandal of 1986 had been public knowledge for about a month when the Reagan administration fought back on the officials met in representative institutions to decide poliey,that was republican, 兰使3a issue of Central American policy.President Ronald Reagan's communications or representative,government. The United States was much too large to be governed directly by the people director,Patrick Buchanan, accused congressional Democrats of exploiting the &scandal in order to achieve a cutoff of all assistance to the Nicaraguan rebels and through popular assemblies,so the Framers also had another distinction in hereby to undo a decision made by the American people two years earlier, mind when they called their plan republican rather than democratic in its form. In the Framers'conception of representative govemment,representatives were when they had resoundingly reelected Reagan.In Buchanan's view,Reagar landslide reelection victory proved that the American people desired a continu- placed at a considerable distance from the people.The public would elect directly only the members of the U.S.House of Representatives.U.S.senators, ation of Republican leadership and policies,including support for the Contras But was that really the case?After all,the Democrats had won a landslide of the president,and federal judges would be chosen by indirect forms of popular their own in 1984,gaining a 253-182 seat advantage in the House of election.The purpose was to make it dificult for a popular majority to gain and exploit the full power of government. Representatives. Americans are accustomed to thinking of their country as the most democratic Although the Framers maintained that these arrangements would result in a on earth.However,if democracy is defined by the directness with which an government that served the public's "rue interest,opponents of the Constitution charged that the people had been denied self-government.Offi- electoral majority leads to a governing majority,the American system is less cials would be free to pursue policies of their choosing,and even if they were demucratic than many others.As the 1984 campaign illustrates,U.S.electlons do not always produce a clear-cut governing majority.Since World War Il, committed to serving the public's interest,they would be so distant from the 40 control of the presidency and of one or both houses of Congress has been split people as to have no real understanding of their needs.For its critics,the Constitution was a blueprint not for popular sovereignty but for rule by the between the Republican and Democratic parties for more years than it has upper classes. e L.Graham.Jr. Chatham House,1984).19. Federalist No.10. 64
PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK CHAPTER 4*REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 67 66 The debate over the power of the majority which began with the writing of The Framers'concept of representative democracy was similar to an idea put the Constitution has continued in one form or another throughout the country's forth by the English theorist Edmund Burke (1729-1797).In his Letter to the history.This chapter traces that debate,concentrating on the theory and Sheriffs of Bristol,Burke argued that representatives should act as public trustees: practice of representative government as originally expressed by the.Constitu- they are obliged to promote the interest of those who elerted them,but the tion and as modified by subsequent developments,such as the change to direct nature of this interest is for them,not the voters,to decide.Burke was concerned election of U.S.senators.The major ideas presented in the chapter are these: about the ease with which society could degenerate into selfishness,and he thought it imperative for representatives not to surrender their judgment to ThecrproviedbyheCsheaoc popular whim Pog horm沙(6小为r金将 INDIRECT POPULAR RULE today. Theide of majority'desyirectd Under the Constitution,all power is one or two steps removed from the people imediate ic public policy-hsnsthsine theionbeging The Constitution has no provision for any form of direct popular participation e the public's direct in the making of public policy. The House of Representatives was the institution placed closest to the people, Edmund Burke,English political the national governme nt.The impulse for these developments has come largely from theorist.(The Bettmann Archive) the American people themselves and from leaders acting on the majority's behalf. who would directly elect its members to two-year terms of office.Frequent and Athrfedeeproper fomm ofrepresee direct election of House members was intended to make government sensitive diference ofopinion about worst comsequences.Those who fear a concentration of power to the concerns of popular majorities.The Constitution specified,however,that in the hands of the majority believe that it leads toa goverment that does not respect the House could have no more than one representative for every 30,000 the legitimate rights and interests of the minority.Those who fear a lack of power in inhabitants;this provision was designed to ensure that each representative the hands of the majority claim that it leads that the would represent a large area and population and thus not be bound too closely rights and interests of a small upper-cass elite. to local concerns. U.S.senators would be appointed by the legislatures of the states they represented.Because state legislators were popularly elected,the people would be choosing their senators indirectly,Every-twe years,a third ef the-senators Representation in the Constitution would be appointed to six-year terms.The Senate was expected to check and balance the House,which,by virtue of the more frequent and direct election of To the Framers,a representative govemment that worked effectively only in its members,would presumably be more responsive to popular opinion. good times was undeserving of respect.The true test of a governing system was Presidential selection was an issue of considerable debate at the Philadelphia its ability to withstand the stress of a period of desperation and fear.And in this convention.Hamilton favored a life-term president,but others feared that life regard,the record of democracies left much to be desired.In 1786,for example, tenure would turn the office into a monarchy.Another proposal was to have the debtors had gained control of Rhode Island's legislature and made paper money president chosen by Congress,but this suggestion was defeated on the a legal means of paying debts,even though existir ng contracts called for payment argument that it would upset the balance between the legislative and executive in gold.Creditors were then hunted down and held captive in public places so branches,since one would be appointing the chief of the other.Direct election that debtors could come and pay them in full with worthless paper money.A of the president was twice proposed and twice rejected because the delegates Boston newspaper wrote that Rhode Island should be renamed Rogue Island. were uneasy about linking executive power directly to popular majorities., James Madison offered a broader indictment:"may be concluded...that The Framers finally chose to have the president selected by the votes of such [uncontrolled]democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and electors (the so-called Electoral College;see Chapter 19).Each state would have (化u观) contention;have ever been found incompatible with personal security,or the as many electors as it had members in Congress and could select them by any rights of property;and have in general been as short in their lives,as they have method it chose.Each elector would vote for two candidates for president.The been violent in their deaths. cardidate who received the largest number of electoral votes,if that number To guard against chaos and incivility,the Framers devised a government that constituted a majority (that is,more than 50 percent),would be selected as incorporated the principle of majority rule along with built-in protections president;the runner-up would become vice-president.If no candidate won a against majority power.The objective was a government that would be sensitive majority,the election would go to the House of Representatives,which would to the majority's immediate concerns yet deliberative enough to promote choose the president from among the top five finishers.The president would society's broader and more enduring interests. serve a four-year term and be eligible for reelection. With regard to the Supreme Court justices,the Philadelphia convention was Federslist No.10. Federalist No 10
68 PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK CHAPTER 4 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 69 CHOOSING NATIONAL LEADERS Because the Framers feared the concentration of political power,they devised alternative methods of selection and terms of service for national officials. This 1793 cartoon depicts the Anti-Federalists as a "dub" OFFICE METHOD OF SELECTION TERM OF SERVICE condemn federal government.Jefferson is shown President Electoral Callege d years standing with an auctioneer's US.senator State legislature 6 years (1/3 of senators'terms expire Ravel,woodering"whether 'tis G2yea nobler in the mind to kneck U.S.representative Popular election 2y光n down [that is,actiono dry Federal judge Indefinite (subject to “sood behavior'"”) gheadolnlodcsome means of knocking down a Govemment and on its ruins raise myself to Eminence and in general agreement that they should be appointed rather than elected.At first arrangement was necessary because otherwise representatives would be "undu- the delegates decided that the Senate should make the appointments,but they ly attached"to local interests and"too little fit to comprehend and pursue great finally chose to have judges nominated by the president and confirmed through and national objects."To Lee and others,such arguments were a mask for approval by the Senate.Once confirmed,the Constitution declared,judges elitism-rule by a few who claimed to know the people's interest better than "shall hold their offices during good behavior."Although the selection proce- the people knew it themselves.s dure tied the judiciary to the other branches,the Framers intended to ensure an independent judiciary by allowing judges,in effect,to hold office for life unless they committed a crime. Modifying the Framers'Work: These differing methods of selecting national officers would not prevent a Toward a More Democratic System determined majority from achieving full power if it had sufficient strength and longevity,but control could not be attained easily or quickly.The House of The Framers denied that the Constitution was intended to thwart popular Representatives might surrender to an impassioned majority in a single government.They claimed that it was formulated instead to correct flaws that election,but the Senate,presidency,and judiciary were unlikely to yield so had ruined previous attempts at rule by the people.Madison declared in quickly.The delay would reduce the probability that government would Federalist No.10 that the Constitution was "a republican remedy"for the defects degenerate into mob rule.The Framers helieved that majority tyranmy would be inherent in democratie government. impulsive.Given time,the people would presumably come to their senses. Nevertheless,the Framers'conception of self-goverment was somewhat at odds with prevailing theory and practice.From Aristotle on,it had been held ANTI-FEDERALIST DISSENT that majority rule was the defining characteristic of a government of the people. The majority might not be any wiser than the minority,but the view of the The Anti-Federalists viewed the Constitution's scheme of representation as at greater number ought to prevail over that of the smaller number.Furthermore, best a severe restriction on majority rule and at worst an elabsurate conspiracy by the promise that they would govern themselves was what had Tured ordinary the Federalists to secure power for the wealthy.As the Anti-Federalists saw it, Americans by the thousands to make great sacrifices in the war against England. the Constitution was not a bulwark against mob rule,but a barrier to rule by the The spirit of 1776 was democratic in its nature,a fact that was reflected in the people.The Senate and presidency in particular were seen as elite institutions. constitutions of the states.Every state but South Carolina held an annual Richard Henry Lee of Virginia criticized even the House of Representatives, which he said had "very little democracy in it"because each of its members would represent a large population and area.Madison had claimed that this 86子品d
PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK CHAPTER 4 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 70 71 legislative election,and several states also chose their governors through annual vision of how a popular government might work in practice.He believed that election by the people.? legislative majorities were the proper expresson of the public's interest and In this context,the Constitution's provisions for popular rule were paltry,and accordingly was reluctant to use his presidency for this purpose.Jeffersonaso it was not long after the Constitution was ratified that Americans sought a had no illusions about a largely illiterate population's readiness for a significant stronger voice in their own goveming.The process has continued throughout governing role and feared the consequences of inciting the public to pursue their the country's history:in no other constitutional area have Americans shown resentment of the moneyed class.An assault on the wealthy,in Jefferson's such a willingness to experiment. opinion,would be not only wrong but also destructive of the nation'sga srosperity,and therefore ruinous to all.Jetfersonian democracy was thus THE ERA OF JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY mainly a revolution of the spirit;Jefferson taught Americans to look upon the national government as belonging to all,not just to the privileged few. Thomas Jefferson,who otherwise admired the Constitution,was among the prominent Americans who questioned its provisions for self-government.To THE ERA OF JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY Jefferson,America was the hope of ordinary people everywhere for liberation from rule by the elite few,and he reasoned that the American people might Not until Andrew Jackson became president in 1828 did the country have a someday rebel against the small governing role assigned them by the Constitu- powerful leader who was willing and able to involve the public more fully in tion. government.Jackson carried out the constitutional revolution that Jefferson had Ironically,it was Jefferson who may have spared the nation a bloody foreshadowed. revolution over the issue of popular sovereignty.Under John Adams,the nation's second president and a thoroughgoing elitist,the national government The President as a Popular Leader increasingly favored the nation's wealthy interests.Adams publicly suggested that the Constitution was designed for a governing elite,while Alexander Jackson recognized that the president was the only official who could easily Hamilton urged him to use force if necessary to suppress popular dissent. claim to represent all the people.Unlike the president,members of Congress Jefferson asked whether Adams,with the aid of a strong army,planned soon to were elected from separate states and districts rather than from the whole of the deprive ordinary Americans of their freedoms altogether.Jefferson challenged country.Yet the president's claim to popular leadership was diminished by the Adams in the next presidential election and,upon defeating him,hailed the existence of the Electoral College.If the president and the people were to be victory as the "Revolution of 1800." brought closer together,so that each could draw power from the other,the office Although Jefferson was a champion of the common people,he had no clear would have to rest on popular election.Jackson first tried to persuade Congress to initiate an amendment that would abolish the electoral voting system.Failing 光 in this effort,Jackson persuaded the states to make popular voting the basis for Hannah Arend choosing their presidential electors By 1832,all states except South Carolina Benjamin Ginsberg The of (New York:Random House,1982)22. had done so. Jackson's Teform is still in effect today and basically places the choice of a president in the voters'hands.The winner of the popular vote in each state is awarded its electoral votes,and the probability is strong that the candidate who wins the popular-vote contest will also receive a majority of electoral votes. Since Jackson's time,only once has the loser of the popular vote won the presidency (Rutherford B.Haves in 1876). The "Spoils System" Andrew Jackson also sought to put an end to the aristocracy of wealth that had been governing the country through control of public offices.He urged the This painting of Monticello,the states to abolish property ownership as a condition for voting,promoted home Jefferson designed for rotaton of ofce as a eans of keeping offcals in close touch with the people, and appointed common people to high administrative posts.Politically out- regarded as the wellspring of an independent and self-governing ociaty.(Thomas Jeffersan okenfrom alter Lippmsnn Publie Opin (New York:Free Prst.196 "Ttintarproetatianistakeam y.196792. Men odaboo.H. 178-179. Andrew Johnson）
CHAPTER4 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 73 72 PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK participation of thousands of citizens.The election of 1832 also marked the appearance of the party nominating convention in presidential politics. Jackson's protege and successor as president,Martin Van Buren,shared Jackson's admiration of political parties.Van Buren was connected with New York City's Tammany Hall,one of the country's first party "machines,"and he realized that parties could revolutionize government.In the absence of strong parties,Van Buren concluded,government naturally serves the interests of the dich and powerful.When ordinary citizens are not organized in parties,they lack power;individually they cannot hope to compete against people of wealth and status.Through party organization,however,ordinary citizens can act together as a voting majority that is capable of gaining political control by electing leaders committed to their interests. This vision of strong national parties was never fully realized in the United States,partly because federalism and the separation of powers have enabled party organizations and leaders in various states and institutions to hold Alexis de Tooqueville,astute differing views of their party's principles (see Chapter 12).Nevertheless,the French obeerver of the young development of grass-roots political parties in the 1830s gave the people a American democracy.(The Bettmann Archive) powerful means of collective influence.Until then,each voter had a say only in the selection of his single representative.With the advent of grass-roots parties, a majority of individuals throughout the nation,united by affiliation with a political party,could choose a majority of representatives who shared the same Andrew Jackson used his policy goals.Majority opinion could thereby be more readily translated into 2n public policy.So fundamental was the emergence of the grass-roots party to the this civil service"reform"was influence of the people that the historian James MacGregor Burns has called it he spoils system,whe中y America's"second constitution."s offices became avallable every When the Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in the early I know of no courtry in which 1830s-at the peak of facksonian democracy-he felt compelled to say that"in CIVIL BERVICE REFORM the United States,the majority governs."But Tocqueville's evaluation was not thought and real freedom of OpricE-Serxen."St.Jackson,can't you saw us Can't yoo give us aomething altogether favorable."Iknow of no country,"Tocqueville said,"in which there Library) is so lttie mndependence of thought and real freedom of discussion as in Alexis de Tocqueville numbered,the nation's upper classes could only deride Jackson's policies as a America."In Tocqueville's judgment Americans were too inclined to defer to mere"spoils system."Believing that"to the victor belong the spoils,"Jackson what they perceived to be majority opinion.They feared the isolation that can had appointed his campaign workers to goverment posts of all kinds(see come to those who hold unpopular views.Tocqueville mistrusted majorities Chapter 12). created in this way:opinions fully considered and debated wereto him,as to the Framers an improper basis for governing. The"Party Constitution" Jacksonian democracy's greatest contribution to majority govemnment was the THE PROGRESSIVE ERA grass-roots political party.America's first parties,the Federalists and the After the 1840s,the parties gradually drifted toward localism,corruption,and Republicans,had developed in the 1790s out of disputes between Hamilton and favoritism.In the cities especially,they were taken over by powerful party Jefferson over national policy.These parties were thoroughly dominated by bosses whose arrogance was matched only by their appetite for patronage.By political and community leaders.Ordinary citizens had no large role in them. the 1880s,many party bosses were in league with the robber barons to block Andrew Jackson had a different kind of political party in mind.He wanted a party built from the"grass roots"-that is,based on participation at the local government from regulating business trusts (see Chapter 2). level by ordinary citizens.Its strength would be its popular base,not its ties to the elite.By the election of 1832,Jackson's Democratic party had enlisted the cre Bus,The Vinend (New Yark:Knop,1982)372. .368. Dmoymr5-ed.P.Mayer (Garden City,N.Y. 15,16. White,"The DSee Richard P.Me Carolina Press,1966)
CHAPTER4 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 75 74 PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK PROGRESSIVE REFORMS The Progressive movement's major goal was to curb the referendum as means of allowing the public to enact power of party bosses and big business.Led by such men legislation:dependence on experts and proven admin- istrators instead of party workers to staff executive as Wisconsin's Robert La Follette,it infuenced nearly every aspect of American political life,local and branch. well as national.No other reform movement before or Nationml govermmert:Use of primaries rather than ca The aince has had such a broad and lasting effect on American cuses as method of choosing delegates to presidential press made newspaper o produce and brought their politics.Among the Progressive reforms are the following: nominating conventions;election of U.S.senators di- rectly rather than through state legislatures. 的 Municipal govemment:Utilities converted from private to public ownership;govemment contracts awarded These newer ways of goveming were not adopted every- through public bids rather than political deals;adminis where.Cities and states of the East and South were much tration of government through city managers or com- more likely than those of the Midwest and West to retain Progressive reformers looked for ways to weaken the power of corporations mission plan instead of elected mayors;nonpartisan the older systems.Party bosses and big business remained and party bosses and to give the public a greater voice in politics.In its elections substituted for partisan ones. strong in many (perhaps most)locations,but their power Declaration of Principles of 1911,the Natlonal Progressive League defined its State goverment:Nominatlon of candidates by direct would never again be what it was before the Progressive goal as"the promotion of popular government."The Progressives rejected the primary rather than party caucuses;use of initlative and era Burkean idea (discussed earlier in this chapter)of representatives as trustees; they embraced instead the idea of representatives as delegates-officeholders who are obligated to respond directly to the expressed opinions of the people ratified in 1913,had been chosen by state legislatures and were widely whom they represent. The Progressive movement was made possible by changes in education and perceived as agents of the rich(the Senate was nicknamed the "millionaires communication during the nation's first century.In 1787 the vast majority of club).Earlier attempts to amend the Senate election procedure were blocked Americans were illiterate,and many of those who could read could not afford by the senators,who stood to lose their seats if they had to submit to direct vote the hand-printed newspapers of the time.During the nineteenth century, by the people.At length,however,the Senate was finally persuaded to support however,a broad-based public school system was created,and the invention of an amendment by pressure from the Progressives and by revelations that the high-speed printing press led to the "penny"newspaper.By the time of the corporate bribes had influenced the selection of several senators. Progressive movement,literacy was widespread in America,as was newspaper Of the many Progressive reforms,the most significant was the primary election, readership.Ordinary Americans believed themselves to be politically informed which gave rank-and-file voters a voice in the selection of party nominees.Party and wanted the greater influence that the Progressives promised.The strongest bosses would no longer have absolute control of nominations,which had been a AaT2 THE ISS店品 force behind the Progressives'call for a more direct democracy was the chief source of their power.No greater blow to political parties can be imagined. persistent American belief that govemment should be subject to popular When a party does not have the power to select its candidates,it cannot Reform of Government majo period of reform.What control-the more,the better. command their loyalty to its organizational and policy goals.Candidates will embrace or reject their party as it suits their needs.In other democracies,which does i设uaggest about the have no primary elections,parties have retained control of the nominating ability of self-govemment to renew itself?In your Progressive Reforms process and therefore have remained strong (Chapter 12 discusses party udgment,were the reforms organization in detail.) elves,such as the Two of the Progressives'reforms gave voting majorities the direct power to primary elections decide policy at the state and local levels.One device was the iritiative,which Political parties in America were further undercut in the early twentieth consistent with allows citizens through petition to place legislative measures on the ballot.A century by the extension of merit-based civil service,which cost the parties see related measure was the referendum,which permits legislative bodies to submit thousands of patronage jobs.By 1916,elections were becoming "advertising- proposals to the voters for approval or rejection.The Progressives also sought to style"campaigns in which candidates appealed to the voters directly rather than eed for refom ody?sth United States sufficiently ratic?If you believe give the public recourse against wayward state and local officials through the through party organizations.The time was coming when no institution of any strength would stand between the voters and their representatives. that it is not, what reforms recnll,in which citizens petition for the removal of an elected official before the might reasonably be scheduled completion of his or her term of office. introduced? In terms of national politics,a more significant Progressive reform was the Richard lensen,"American Electioo direct election of U.S.senators,who,before the Seventeenth Amendment was
CHAPTER 4 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 76 PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK The Progressives gained the support of two strong presidents,Theodore concept of separation of powers,for example,was a time-honored governing Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson,who shared the Progressives'opposition to princple that had previously been incorporated in state constitutions.Never- business monopolies but also recognized the power.inherent in a popular theless,the Framers clearly did not have a high opinion of popular government. presidency.Roosevelt described the office as a"bully pulpit."Wilson,writing Their system of representation was premised on a mistrust of popular majori about the president's potential for national leadership,said:"His is the only ties,and they did not establish voting as a basic right of citizens.The national voice in public affairs.Let him once win the admiration and confidence Constitution required only that a state impose no stricter suffrage qualifications of the country,and no other single voice will easily overpower him."Roosevelt in elections for the U.S.House of Representatives than it applied to elections for and Wilson's conception of the president as national leader,legitimized through the larger house of its own legislature.The states allowed only propertied white election by a majority of voters,helped to change the president's image.In the males to vote,and it would seem likely that a majority of the Framers belieyed view of the public,the president was replacing Congress as the chief instrument that suffrage should be limited to this class.But it would be inaccurate to conclude that the Framers were blatantly anfidemocratic by the standards of of democracy (see Chapter 19) Ironically,as the American system was being opened to greater popular their lime Property ownership was relatively widespread in America in the late participation early in this century,the power of government was increasing. eighteenth century,and in some states half or more of adult white males were This parallel development was no coincidence.Although open elections are a eligible to vote.3 means to popular influence,they are also a means by which government accumulates power.Official actions gain legitimacy when they are pursued in RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:POLLS,TELEVISION, the name of a public that has freely chosen a leadership to act on its behalf. AND PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS Although George Bernard Shaw was overgeneralizing.he was not completely off the mark when he concluded,"The more democratic a government is the The Progressive movement declined in the 1920s,after most of its institutional more authoritativeit is. reforms had been achieved.If it had not subsided then,it would surely have done so in the 1930s,when the Western world's trust in majority government Beard's Economic Theory of the Constitution was shaken by developments in Europe,particularly in Germany.In 1933 the German people in a national election freely turned power over to Adolf Hitler. In the Progressives'view,the Framers had erred in giving the majority too little Germany's Weimar Republic had been founded on popular institutions;it was power.Not surprisingly,the Progressive movement spawned attacks on the about as close as any modern nation had come to establishing a pure Framers.A notable work in this vein is the historian Charles S.Beard's Economric democracy.When the Weimar Republic degenerated first into chaos and then Interpretation of the Constittion Arguing that the Constitution grew out of into Hitler's Third Reich,its demise seemed only to confirm Madison's wealthy Americans'fear of debtor rebellions,Beard claimed that its elaborate assertion.quoted earlier in this chapter,that direct democracies are "spectacles systems of power and representation were devices for keeping power in the of turbulence and contention as short in their lives as they have been hands of the rich.As evidence,Beard cited the Constitution's protections of violent in their deaths" property(see Chapter 6)and referred to James Madison's secret notes on the Nevertheless,the idea of popular government regained strength in the United Philadelphia convention,which showed that property interests were high on States after World War II,when changes in communications,technology,and the delegates'list of priorities. political organization brought the American people and their representatives Beard further noted that not one of the delegates was a workingman or small into an increasingly close relationship.The new mass medium of television farmer.Most of the Framers had large landholdings,controlled substantial began to enable political leaders to reach the public more easily.And as interests,or were major bank creditholders.A few had large debts,but their televised politics became routine,more Americans came to believe that leaders debts merely reflected the scope of their ambitions.This dominance of the should deal with the public directly rather than through political parties." Philadelphia convention by wealthy men reflected the fact that the delegates This perspective was evident during the late 1960s,when reform Democrats had been chosen by the state legislatures,which were controlled by the sought a change in the presidential nominating system.In 1968 the leaders of asoeaeikoatihaoeawad the Democratic party nominated Hubert H.Humphrey,who,as Lyndon Johnson's vice-president,was associated with the unpopular Vietnam war. Beard's thesis was challenged by other historians,and he later acknowledged Philadelphia. Antiwar Democrats challenged the legitimacy of Humphrey's nomination because he had not participated in a single primary election.When Humphrey that he had not taken the Framers'full array of motives into account.Their then lost the general election to Richard Nixon,reform-minded Democrats demanded a change from a nominating system dominated by party leaders to he(wYok:Colb niey one controlled by the party's rank-and-file voters through primaries and open 67 caucuses.Their position easily prevailed (see Chapter 19) ard Shaw to editor of Ne Republic,1936,repeinted in ibid.,August B and 15,1988, ences of Cousent,ch- rio ofCom:New York:Macmilla 10 1941)
PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK CHAPTER 4*REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 79 78 The Continuing Debate over the Majority's Role The United States today has a hybrid system of representation which combines original countermajoritarian elements with newer majoritarian aspects.Popular majorities still encounter barriers to infuence in the elaborate system of divided ,个 powers,staggered terms of office,and separate constituencies devised by the Framers.Although Americans take these devices for granted,most democracies do not have them.In Great Britain,for example,executive and legislative authority are combined in a single institution,the House of Commons,whose members are all chosen at the same time and for terms of the same length.A British national election normally produces a clear-cut majority:the victorious party gains control of government.As we noted at the beginning of this chapter, the U.S.experience is different:in the past four decades,control of the presidency and of one or both houses of Congress has been split between the Republican and Democratic parties for more years than it has been in a single party's hands.In other words,it has been common in recent years for the United Senator Robert Kasten (R-Wis) States to have no governing majority party. holds a press. However,the U.S.political system also has its majoritarian features.Holders of all national offices-representatives,senators,and president-are now television as a means of chosen by popular vote."Moreover,no democracy conducts elections for its cammunicating with the public. (Photri) Cnebe or the the ently,it is still possible for the wirner of the popular vote to lose the Advances in public opinion polling have also promoted popular infuence. Until scientific polling was developed several decades ago,representatives 收正ED could always argue that their views were shared by a majority of the people. STATF5 COMFARES Now it is largely polls that identify majority opinion.While officeholders do not such as Great Britain's, the translation of electoral always follow the polls in deciding what to do,they are at least mindful of what Electing and Governing All der mjorites Into governing polls indicate the public is thinking and are especially wary of taking a stand on characterized by free and oppo ity foe majorities,popular influence issues about which majority opinion is intense.(Public opinion polling is open elections,but not all can be lookedt inh discussed in detail in Chapter 8.) democracies have the same elections.Vaters choose the ways.One wayk electoral sysbemns.The United legislators,who then choose whether control of Stales has a senaradon of one of their members to be government shifts completely the prime minister,who or partially from one party to another as a result of legislators.The result in five of the last six presidential power are thas combined in HOW THE NATIONAL POLITICAL SYSTEM WAS MADE MORE elections has been a divided one institation,the control of hands of one party,either the RESPONSIVE TO POPULAR MAJORITIES which is determined in each wel oe more ley and one or both houses of 6 Congreas held by the other. government is not necessarily When such a division occurs at slake in a natonal eecton events.From this perspective, CONSTITUTION OF 1787 SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS Boose elections take place the U.S.system is responsive to electoral majoritles.In Separation of powers,as a mears of dividing authority and Polltical parties,as a means of uniting authorities and linking t and a Democr言tic-cUt在0le odld's dem blunting passionate majorities. them with popular majorlties. every four yeam,and Cangress in 1988,for senators are clected at Indirect election of all national officials exept House members, voting for president (linked to of xmple.Amercans in a two-year intervals to six-year elections frequently result ir as a means of buffering offcials from popular infuence increasing popular control af officinls a change in party control of Although the U.S.system
80 PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK CHAPTER 4*REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 81 larger legislative chamber more frequently than does the United States,and no In the classical scheme,the principle of majority rule is satisfactorily met democracy requires more frequent election of its chief executive.Moreover,the when the people have the opportunity through periodic elections to pass United States is the only country that relies extensively on primary elections for judgment on what goverment has been doing.It is not required that citizens n人y(k)y the selection of party nominees;elsewhere,they are selected by party organiza- take a direct part in government or that representatives do what they think the tions.The electoral principle,which the writers of the Constitution regarded as people want.The vote is the sanction that encourages officials to serve the a prerequisite of popular sovereignty but also one to be used sparingly,has been public rather than themselves.? extended further in the United States than anywhere else. ny sheeifi人ty The present system of representative government in the United States,as we have seen,has been created plecemeal.New elements have been added to old ADVOCATES OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT ones,which in turn have been variously kept,modified,or superseded.In no The idea that distant leaders understand the people's interests better than the other area of their constitutional system have Americans had so great a people themselves has always struck some analysts either as fanciful specula- penchant for experimentation.Presidential electors and primary elections,for tion or as a pretext for self-serving rule by an elite.According to this view,the example,are American inventions,which other countries have chosen not to possibility of tyranny by the majority,although a frightening prospect,is far copy.At present Americans are not clamoring for additional changes in their more remote than the likelihood of tyranny by a self-interested elite.To deny representational system.Nevertheless,the theoretical debate over representa- majority control,the argument goes,is to invite representatives to serve the tion that began in 1787 is far from settled. narrow purposes of the rich and powerful.If the people's interests are to prevail, there must be institutional arrangements that promote popular influence ADVOCATES OF THE CLASSICAL VIEW One such arrangement has been proposed by the historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns,who favors modifying the Constitution to The public's role in national government is obviously far more substantial than Dei泛6any provide concurrent four-year terms for the president and members of the House the Framers had planned or thought desirable.Their philosophy continues to of Representatives and staggered eight-year terms for senators.This arrange- is ill-ikresd. have its proponents,who argue that the issue is not how directly the people ment would help to overcome the countermajoritarian possibilities inherent in exercise influence but whether goverment serves the people's interests the separation of executive and legislative ele ctions and powers.The change In this view,the public is likened to a community formed on the basis of its would enhance the president's ability to lead a national majority and bring members'shared and deeply held values.The public is not synonymous with a cohesion to a Congress fragmented by its members'diverse local ties." temporary majority,for if it were,then a mob could also be the public-a Other proposals to grant the public greater influence are more radical."They possibility that modem holders of the classical view reject.One such proponent, typically involve a shifting of governing decisions from the national level to the Robert Nisbet local level,where the opportunities for direct citizen influence are greater,and from the private sector to the public sector,which would expand the range of 8品色花准 Nisbet concludes,polltical leaders must exercise frue leadership,using their policies decided by popular participation.The objective is to achiese "a participatory democracy in all respects,"in Carole Pateman's phrase.Some The claim that representatives must look inward to their own understanding reformers would even apply new communication technologies,such as interac- of the public interest,rather than outward to get the pulse of the people,is as tive cable television,to enable the American people to participate directly in characteristie of modern critics of popular goverment as it was of Edmund national policymaking (see box). Burke and the Framers.Ironically,the argument finds support in public opinion Most political scientists would prefer an older solution to the problem of polls,which show that the policy views of most citizens are seldom backed by strengthening the majority's power:the development of stronger political an awareness of relevant facts (see Chapter 8).In the early 1980s,for example parties.They argue,much as Martin Van Buren did 150 years ago,that polls indicated that most Americans did not know which side the U.S competition between strong opposing parties provides a voting majority with government was supporting in Nicaragua's civil war. its best opportunity to have br ad and predictable influence on public policy.In Reasoning from such evidence.proponents of the classical model of represen- this view,the problem of U.S.political parties is that they lack the strength to tation claim that the public is not equipped to tell its leaders which policies to bind candidates to a common platform.As things stand,candidates for pursue.They argue further that policy made in response to public pressure is nearly always bad policy.Consider the five separate inflation-fighting programs that Presiden Jimmy Carter proposed in the late 1970s in response to public discontent with rising inflation.Each program was hastily prepared and all See for example,Karl Mannheim.Freedo,d Deocrslic (New York:Oxford failed in one way or another.In the classical view,a government that is not University Press,1950)156-161. designed to formulate effective policles is not an adequate government, James MacGregor Bur 双f Delivers 1987 Rothba e Carl Albert Cemter, (). whatever other virtues it may have. Robert Nisbet,"Pubic Opinion versus Popalar Opinion,"41 (1975)169
CHAPTER4 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 83 82 PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK Summary Since 1787,a major issue of American politics has been Since the adoption of the Constitution,however,the NATIONAL "TOWN MEETINGS":NEW COMMUNICATION the public's role in governing.The Framers of the Consti- public has gradually assumed more direct control of its TECHNOLOGIES AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY tution respected the idea of self-government but distrust- representatives,particularly through measures affecting ed popular majorities.They designed a govemment that the way in which officeholders are chosen.Political par they felt would temper popular opinion and slow its ties,presidential voting (linked to the Electoral College). and primary elections are among the devices aimed at New communication technologies-including video- Columbus,Ohio.QUBE used two-way cable to enable momentum,so that the public's "true interest"(which viewers to express their opinions on pollcy issues simply includes a regard for the rights and interests of the strengthening the majority's influence.These develop- conferencing and interactive cable television-may soon by pressing buttons on a console connected to their TV minority)would guide public policy.Different methods ments are rooted in the idea,deeply held by ordinary bring changes to the practice of popular government.The sets.Some observers predict enthusiastically that national were established to select members of the House of Americans,that the people must have substantial direct possibilities are suggested by two pilot projects. One project enables constituents in five congression "town meetings"through two-way cable are in America's Representatives and of the Senate,the president,and control of their government if it is to serve their real interests.For advocates of majority rule,the alternative is districts to use their home computers to communicate future.Other observers are not convinced that teledemo federal judges as a means of separating political power cracy is such a good ides.They point out that the agenda from momentary and unreflecting majorities.This philos- goverment by privileged interests. directly with their representative's office in Washington The number of these messages has been found to peak would be set not by the viewers but by the people who ophy of representative democracy was suggested in the just before votes are taken during House debates televised controlled the content of the program,and that the writings of Burke,Locke,and Montesquieu and still has on C-SPAN,Congress's cable television network. opinions expressed by viewers would not necessarily be strong advocates today. The other project,"QUBE,"began in the late 1970s in representative of the vlews of the general public. Major Concepts Congress run on individual platforms,so that the vote in one state or district is not necessarily linked to the vote in other states or districts.In Great Britain, delegates republic which has strong parties,each party develops a national platform that its democracy trustees tyranny of the majority candidates support.British voters thus have a common choice regardless of the representative democracy legislative district in which they live.By electing a legislative majority of one party,they essentially are choosing the national platform put forth by that Suggested Readings party's candidates. Whatever their particular position,advocates of popular goverment share a Beard,Chatles S.An Ecomomic Interpretation of the Constitu- 1958.Argues against Beard's thesis that the Framers central principle:that the people are far and away the most appropriate judges fion.New York:Macmillan,1941.Argues that the wrote the Constitution to suit their own economic of their own interests.Although proponents of majoritarianism recognize a Founders had selfish ecnmc interests uppermos in needs. need for effective leadership,they claim that a democratic society must give mind when they wrote the Constitution. Schattschneider,E.E.The Semisocereignt People:A Renlist's priority to the expressed wishes of the people,not the presumed wisdom of the Goldwin,Robert $.and William A.Schambra,eds.Hom View of Democracy in America.New York:Holt,Rinehart Democratic Is the Constitulion?Washington,D.C.:Ameri- and Winston,1960.Contends that the public's influ leaders. can Enterprise Institute,1980.Essays on various inter- ence depends mainly on fair,open,and partisan com- pretations of the Constitution. petition among elites for power. IS THE AMERICAN SYSTEM DEMOCRATIC ENOUGH? Lippmann,Walter.The Phantom Pablic.New York:Har Spitz,Elaine.Majority Rule.Chatham,N.J:Chatham court,Brace,1925.Argues that the public's capacity to House,1987.An analysis of majority rule which goes In this chapter's introduction,we suggested that Americans may be mistaken when they claim that their country is the most democratic in the world.The govemn directly is extremely limited and that a democra beyond the mechanical issue of vote counting. cy must take this into account in developing its institu- Tocqueville,Alexis de.Democracy in America,vols.1 and 2. point,of course,was that the U.S.political system poses obstacles to governing hons. Ed.J.P.Mayer.New York:Doubleday/Anchor,1969.A majorities,which are a defining characteristic of democracy MacDonald,Forrest.We the People:The Ecomomic Origins of classic analysis (originally published 1835-1840)of ·AN水YZ元HE ISSUE The issue today,as it has always been,is not whether the U.S.political system the Constittion.Chicago:University of Chicago Press, American democracy by an insightful French observer. Representatives:Trustees or is democratic but whether it is democratic enough.The issue centers on the Delegates? balance between the influence of popular majorities and the influence of Should repre sentadives act representative institutions.If greater weight is given to popular majorities,can they be trusted to respect the interests of society as a whole?If the majority is of what is best for the people outweighed by representative institutions,can those institutions be trusted to oe should they act aocording to the will of their serve the majority's interests,and not those of a powerful minority?These are constituents?In other words difficult questions,and we have no final or single answers to them.That is why do you think representatives they will continue to be debated and why they deserve consideration by any should be trustees or student of American government.Later chapters will explore further the issue of delegates? popular influence in America
