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