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Many times during campaigns for legislative offices voters and candidates alike portray officeholders as leaders. I think this is a mistake. A more accurate portrayal would be of officeholders as advocates. Their job is one where they speak out for positions and principles, but it is not possible for a legislature to be made up entirely of leaders. Obviously some legislators will be leaders, those who are able to rally other legislators to support the ideas and positions they are advocating but all legislators should be advocates while only some of them will be leaders – that is one of the primary differences between the legislative and the executive branch.
Voters may prefer that their legislator be a leader, but they must insist that their legislator be an advocate. If they choose a leader who cannot be an advocate they will be frustrated and disappointed. If they choose someone who is an effective advocate for them and their positions they will be satisfied. If they are able to have a legislator who is effective both as an advocate and as a leader then they should feel very fortunate.
10 replies on “Legislator as Advocate”
“A more accurate portrayal would be of officeholders as advocates.”
You hit the nail right on the head. Our state legislators are advocates; advocates of special interest and their own political gain. With all of the shenanigans that have taken place on the hill in the last several years this is the only honest conclusion that one can make.
If we as voters were to recognize what officeholders are supposed to be we might be more careful to vote for those who will be our advocates and advocates for our issues rather than voting for those who are simply advocating for their own power or the interests of those who buy their ear.
I would love to believe the system works as you ascribe but far more often than not it seems the only choice we have in our candidates is a choice between horrible and horrible. In a choice between death by hanging or death by firing squad neither choice is very appealing.
That means that you need to get in earlier in the process – before there are only two candidates left – because I agree that neither hanging nor the firing squad sound very appealing. Of course it’s possible to have more than two candidates and still have nobody who does not look like either a gallows, a firing squad, or a lethal injection chamber. (See the 2010 race for Utah’s Senate seat – 5 official candidates and I’m not sold on any of them.) In such cases we have to work as voters to encourage better candidates to get in the race. Long term we even have the option to plan ahead and run for office ourselves if we consistently cannot get decent choices.
Amen.
An underlying issue here is that you are one of the few people who understands the role of the representative. Most of the electorate (those who vote) as well as the vast numbers who do not exercise their civic responsibility to vote actually view legislators as nannies or caregivers. They do not pay attention to the major issues, they do not understand the processes, and they just expect the legistlator to go get the policies and monies necessary to make their lives comfortable and without conflict or trial.
Oh, by the way–Happy Birthday. I actually remember the day you were born. And I realize it was yesterday, not today.
I don’t think things are as dire as that. Certainly many expect the legislator to go get the policies and monies necessary to make things better (for whatever definition of “better” they subscribe to) but I believe that a good number of people pay attention to the major issues, even if many of them do not really understand the proper limits of what government can and should do.
As for the birthday – do you have a memory of that day, or are you just saying that you remember what day it is?
I actually remember. I took care of Ken for a few hours in between classes. Don’t ask me why I remember that because I really can’t tell you what I did yesterday.
I don’t want to come across as dire–I more would like to communicate the idea that people don’t really know what a legislator is suppose to do and how they do it. They seem to be more comfortable just letting it go by. And granted, that is one of the reasons we do have a representative form of government.
Classes???
Why would anyone go to classes when they could be celebrating my birthday? 😉
Agreed and I never found an excuse I could not use to miss a class.