We Are Not Being Represented
We are not being represented. Oh sure, we vote now and then for people who are supposed to represent us, but they are not doing it. I have believed this for quite some time, and several recent studies have confirmed it. In 2014, Martin Gilens, a Professor of Politics at Princeton University, and Benjamin I. Page, Gordon S. Fulcher Professor of Decision Making at Northwestern University examined 1,779 polls in which Americans were asked to say whether they favored or opposed a particular policy. They also studied news accounts, government data, Congressional Quarterly publications, and academic papers to determine whether those policies were actually implemented within four years of the relevant poll. They then compared actual policy outcomes with the wishes of four different groups. In order of most correlation to least correlation, the groups are: economic elites, business interest groups, mass-based interest groups, and average citizens. With a correlation of zero being no correlation, and a correlation of 1 being 100 percent correlation, economic elites were found to have a “quite substantial, highly significant” impact on policy, with a correlation between their wishes and actual policy outcomes at 0.78. The correlation between the wishes of business interest groups and actual policy outcomes was 0.43, while the correlation between the wishes of mass interest groups and actual policy outcomes was 0.24. The correlation between the wishes of average citizens and actual policy outcomes was 0.05. In the words of the researchers, “the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” The opinions of the bottom 90% of income earners in America has essentially no impact at all on public policy. As I said to begin with, we are not being represented. The only time that average Americans get the public policies they want is when their desires happen to coincide with the desires of the economic elites and the business interests.
It would be nice if we could put all the blame for this lack of representation on the Republicans, but Democrats are also responsible. Several studies have shown that the typical Democratic elected official or party officer is far to the right of the average Democrat. I will give you one example: A recent Reuters poll found that 70 percent of Americans support a single payer, Medicare For All health care plan. This includes 52 percent of Republicans, and 85 percent of Democrats. So, we would expect that if 85 percent of Democrats support Medicare For All, then at least 85 percent of our Representatives and Senators would support Medicare For All, right? Bills that would implement a Medicare For All plan have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, but have our Democratic Representatives and Senators signed on to them? Of the 193 Democrats in the House, 123 of them (65 percent) have cosponsored H.R.676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare For All Act. Of the 47 Democrats in the Senate, only 16 (34 percent) have cosponsored Bernie Sanders' S.1804 Medicare for All Act. We are not being represented.
In spite of the fact that our so-called “representatives” aren’t actually representing us, for some reason, we keep reelecting them. In 2012, Congress’s approval rating was 10 percent, yet 91 percent of Congress was reelected. In 2014, Congress’s approval rating was 14 percent, yet 96 percent of them were reelected. In 2016 the Congressional approval rate averaged around 16 percent, 97 percent were reelected. In several recent election cycles, more congressional representatives died in office than lost a reelection bid. Why is this?
One of the biggest reasons is that large percentages of Americans have no idea who their representatives are, or how they vote on the issues. One recent survey found that barely a third of Americans can recall the name of their U.S. congressional representative, and even fewer can remember anything he or she has done for the district. Only about one in ten people can remember how their representative voted on a particular bill. According to a Zogby International poll, only 27 percent of Americans can name both of their U.S. senators. Three quarters of Americans can correctly identify two of Snow White's seven dwarfs while only a quarter can name two Supreme Court Justices. Only 42 percent of those surveyed could list the three branches of our government, but seventy-five percent could name the Three Stooges.
We have a big job ahead of us. Somehow, we have to educate our fellow Americans on who is supposed to be representing them, and let them know that their alleged representatives are not doing their job. We need to stop voting for politicians and party officers who do not represent us, and we need to convince our fellow Americans to stop voting for them. We need to let our supposed representatives and party officers know that we will not vote for them if they don’t represent us, and we need to show them that we mean it by voting large numbers of them out of office and replacing them with people who will do the job they were elected to do. That’s what it will take to truly be represented in government. Who’s with me?
It would be nice if we could put all the blame for this lack of representation on the Republicans, but Democrats are also responsible. Several studies have shown that the typical Democratic elected official or party officer is far to the right of the average Democrat. I will give you one example: A recent Reuters poll found that 70 percent of Americans support a single payer, Medicare For All health care plan. This includes 52 percent of Republicans, and 85 percent of Democrats. So, we would expect that if 85 percent of Democrats support Medicare For All, then at least 85 percent of our Representatives and Senators would support Medicare For All, right? Bills that would implement a Medicare For All plan have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, but have our Democratic Representatives and Senators signed on to them? Of the 193 Democrats in the House, 123 of them (65 percent) have cosponsored H.R.676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare For All Act. Of the 47 Democrats in the Senate, only 16 (34 percent) have cosponsored Bernie Sanders' S.1804 Medicare for All Act. We are not being represented.
In spite of the fact that our so-called “representatives” aren’t actually representing us, for some reason, we keep reelecting them. In 2012, Congress’s approval rating was 10 percent, yet 91 percent of Congress was reelected. In 2014, Congress’s approval rating was 14 percent, yet 96 percent of them were reelected. In 2016 the Congressional approval rate averaged around 16 percent, 97 percent were reelected. In several recent election cycles, more congressional representatives died in office than lost a reelection bid. Why is this?
One of the biggest reasons is that large percentages of Americans have no idea who their representatives are, or how they vote on the issues. One recent survey found that barely a third of Americans can recall the name of their U.S. congressional representative, and even fewer can remember anything he or she has done for the district. Only about one in ten people can remember how their representative voted on a particular bill. According to a Zogby International poll, only 27 percent of Americans can name both of their U.S. senators. Three quarters of Americans can correctly identify two of Snow White's seven dwarfs while only a quarter can name two Supreme Court Justices. Only 42 percent of those surveyed could list the three branches of our government, but seventy-five percent could name the Three Stooges.
We have a big job ahead of us. Somehow, we have to educate our fellow Americans on who is supposed to be representing them, and let them know that their alleged representatives are not doing their job. We need to stop voting for politicians and party officers who do not represent us, and we need to convince our fellow Americans to stop voting for them. We need to let our supposed representatives and party officers know that we will not vote for them if they don’t represent us, and we need to show them that we mean it by voting large numbers of them out of office and replacing them with people who will do the job they were elected to do. That’s what it will take to truly be represented in government. Who’s with me?
posted by Jim Allyn at 9/06/2018 11:27:00 AM
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