Imagine you had the privilege of deciding which cleaning service should be in charge of taking care of your local park. Then, one day you see the chosen group loafing around and littering rather than picking up the trash as they’re paid to do. You would be infuriated because they did not feel the responsibilities that they were paid for. So why is it excusable that our politicians are no longer fulfilling their responsibilities as civil servants as they are elected to do?
In a democratic republic, politicians are elected by the people to be representative of the population. Positions of government are positions of service to the citizens of the nation not steppingstones to greater power over the people. According to the Department of the Interior, former president Thomas Jefferson was clear on his position as a politician:
“When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property”
While Jefferson’s position is rather extreme it is an obvious display of the sentiment shared by many of the founders: that elected officials should not take on political power for themselves. To be in government is to be of the people and same as any other power it comes with responsibility.
Despite the ideals of our founders, the American people do not feel that their elected representatives are fulfilling their responsibilities. Pew Research Center conducted surveys in July 2023 to find how many Americans believe that politicians “don’t care what people like them think’” and they received disturbing statistics: eighty-five percent of people believed that politicians did not value what they thought.
Politicians today seem to be representing the their donors’ opinions in their policies rather than the opinions of those who elected them. Another article from Pew in 2015 about more money flowing into campaigns and the public opinion of its influence details how since 1974 congressional campaign costs specifically—other campaigns have followed similar trends—are on a consistent rise. Furthermore, an article from OpenSecrets, a political money tracking organization, details spending for the 2016 and 2020 campaigns. There is a jump in spending of nearly eight-billion dollars…
Why should politicians care what ‘people like you think’ when campaigns are growing this costly, and need greater financial support from wealthy donors? Our elected officials are serving plenty of special interest groups; those people just are not us—the general public. The system we use is not broken; the people in it are simply deplorable and as citizens we are struggling to fulfill our own duty because our options are getting forcibly worse. It is nigh impossible to compete with these campaigns being backed by so much wealth as an average candidate who does not want to bow to a party or donors.
The history chair at Westminster, Dr. Gall, offered his own opinions on politicians and their intentions:
“I admire politicians who are willing to break with their own party on matters of principle. That is a solid indication that they are in politics for the right reasons.”
By breaking from their party on decisions, politicians sacrifice influence and backing. Gall makes an important point on how to know when a politician may actually be in office to help the people. Politicians must remember that the people are the most important supporters. To ensure that politicians are accountable we as people must also remember to break from party lines and vote for those who actually have the interests of the American people in mind.
The first three words of the constitution are “We the People” for a reason. The people are the most important part of any form of democratic system; for our system to exist it requires the consent of the people and our elected representatives are meant to reflect that foundational idea. For a democracy to thrive the power must first be to the people and secondly to the government. To remain a functioning democracy the people must remain in charge and the system within its bounds.
Our first president, George Washington, set a precedent that few have since followed: taking office despite not wanting it. Washington only took the office of President because he wanted to ensure that the constitution would be well established and that the nation was steady. He quite truly was there for the nation and its people alone. He took care to create a robust and energetic executive by appointing a cabinet and proposing major legislation to Congress, but also wanted to ensure that his office would not become one of monarchy. He declined the title of “His Excellency” in exchange for the more humble “Mr. President” which is a small gesture, but I am quite confident that most officials today think many times less humbly of themselves. He also chose to step down after two presidential terms rather than cling to his power as many politicians today would have.
Washington set a wondrous example of what it means to be a public servant who makes decisions with little bias other than what he believes to benefit the people most. Politicians today must begin to take more care about the voters in the general public rather than their donors and follow the selfless example set by Washington. The time has come for we the people to vote in the ballot box and with our money. We must unite and begin to elect politicians that have our national interests at their foremost priority.
