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Originally Posted by CheckCheckFold
Personally, I want my politicians to do exactly what I want. When they know what I want, they should vote exactly what I want. And when they don't know, they may use their judgement with my best interest in mind.
I strongly disagree with this. Politicians are elected to lead. They should do so with the interests and desires of their constituents foremost in their mind, of course, but much of the time, they are going to have to decide what is best, for many reasons:
1) They're often not going to know with certainty what the majority of their constituents want (you've allowed for this one).
2) A lot of the time, they're going to have more information than their constituents. Leaving aside the times things change since they last knew their constituents' wishes, as that falls under 1), there are going to be situations where decisions need to be made based on things their constituents can't know for reasons of security of confidentiality.
3) Sometimes leaders need to lead. There are times when short term pain leads to long term gain, where constituents are actually going to advocate against their own interests. Social progress can be accelerated when leaders can take us somewhere that their constituents weren't quite ready for yet.
I know 3) can be controversial, and it can definitely be misused. But just because it can be misused doesn't mean we shouldn't give politicians that power. And it's important that you know and understand candidates' values when you vote for them, so you can have faith that when they have to make difficult decisions, they will likely line up with your own values and/or be made in what they believe is everyone's best interests. It requires some trust, and that can be difficult in politics.
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Originally Posted by Original Position
Conservative Republican ideology is generally associated with a different model of representation. They conceive of representatives as trustees meant to do what they think best, not delegates acting on behalf of voters. Their seminal text on representation is Edmund Burke's Speech to the Electors of Bristol, which argues that representatives have a duty to follow their own judgement rather than the will of voters:
Great post! I certainly wouldn't consider myself a "Conservative Republican", but I'm on board with that philosophy.
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Originally Posted by Santzes
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You know you're extreme when you call Kelly Loeffler a RINO.