Date Written: 12/3/2022
Assignment: Write 250 words on this topic: “Should the group in a legislator’s district that got him elected monitor his votes, and recruit someone to run against him in the next primary if he starts voting wrong?”
There are many cases where legislators vote for bills that are against the principles they were elected for. A common issue where this occurs is taxes. Too often when a legislator is elected on his promise that he will lower taxes, he does just the opposite and helps to raise taxes. This leaves the people who elected the legislator wondering what happened to make their legislator abandon them. This happens because when a legislator goes off to the capital he experiences a shift in his peers.
When a legislator is elected and has to move away from his hometown he is surrounded by new groups of people. When they arrive at the capital they are always greeted by lobbyists. The lobbyists treat legislators like royalty, they cater to their every whim. In the process, the lobbyists never forget to explain the righteous position of their group. The legislator, with his new buddy the lobbyist, now helps pass bills that favor the lobbyists group.
Not only do legislators become friends with lobbyists, but they also become buddies with their fellow legislators. In politics there is a club of sorts. This club puts forth important legislation and they are also friends. Naturally, all the legislators want to be a part of the club. They want to make important decisions and go on fishing trips with “the guys” over the weekend. This club consists of all the legislators who go along with the current big agenda. Most of the time the big agenda is statism. If there is a legislator who rocks the boat, then they won’t be included in the club. Most legislators want to be friends with their colleagues, so they go along to get along and the promises made to the voters are ignored.
All of the scenarios above are amplified by the fact that legislators are also geographically separated from the voters. When the legislators are no longer in their hometowns, it is a lot harder for the people who elected them to hold the them accountable for their actions. They don’t have to worry about running into an angry voter at the grocery store; they are many miles away at the capital. If the legislator goes to their hometown, most of the time they are surprised to find that all the voters are mad at them. Then they rush back to the capital where their buddy the lobbyist can console them over a beer.
This shift in the legislators peers is a very dangerous thing. It sways the legislator away from his original views, so he ends up acting contrary to the voter’s wishes. The voters should keep an eye on the way the legislator acts. That way they would know if/when the legislator betrays them. Then they could elect someone better to office. Sadly, this won’t solve the problem of the “peer shift.” That can only happen when legislators keep closer ties with the people who elected them.
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