[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1776-E1777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 1997

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert my Washington 
Report for Wednesday, September 17, 1997 into the Congressional Record.

                        Representative Democracy

       A Hoosier friend asked me the other day what's the most 
     important thing to do to restore the confidence of people in 
     the federal government. My response was that we have to make 
     government accessible, responsive, and workable.
       The critics of government certainly have a point. 
     Government can be inefficient, inaccessible, and 
     unaccountable. It is not hard to understand why government, 
     especially the federal government, is under attack. But it 
     has always seemed to me that the best answer to the critics 
     of government is to make government work better.


                          complicated country

       Under our system of government we have a representative 
     democracy--a government in which decisions are made by the 
     people through their elected representatives. It is far from 
     a perfect system. It can be difficult to understand, chaotic, 
     slow, and frustrating. But I believe it is the best way for 
     us to deal with our nation's challenges and problems.
       We live in a complicated country of vast size and 
     remarkable diversity. Since World War II the population of 
     our country has more than doubled. Our citizens are spread 
     far and wide, and they represent a great variety of races, 
     religions, regional interests, and national origins. It is 
     not easy to develop a system to enable such a country to live 
     together peacefully and productively, but representative 
     democracy allows us to do it. Representative democracy, for 
     all its faults, is our best hope for dealing with our 
     problems through a process of compromise, negotiation, and 
     deliberation. Our system gives people an opportunity not only 
     to speak but also to participate in the decision-making 
     process and to engage with others in open discussion and 
     debate. At its best, representative democracy gives us a 
     system whereby all of us have a voice in the process and a 
     stake in the product.
       Many people think that the way to deal with their problems 
     is to abolish politics. But politics--the process of 
     compromise, negotiation, and deliberation--is the essence of 
     how we make our system work. Politics may be unpopular but it 
     is also indispensable. It is the way that we express the 
     popular will of the people. We need to strengthen 
     representative democracy, not enfeeble it.


                          Role for Government

       In many ways we have lost what was the premise of 
     government in this country when it was formed--the belief 
     that government can work. The widespread public contempt

[[Page E1777]]

     for government today produces a vicious circle that makes 
     government worse.
       I am well aware of the problems we have today in 
     government, but I am also impressed with the miracle of our 
     constitutional structure. It is a commonplace observation to 
     praise the wisdom of the founding fathers, but it is also 
     necessary for us to continually appreciate the remarkable 
     system they put together. The representative democracy 
     envisioned by our Constitution is strong enough to preserve 
     the fragile union, strong enough to promote the general 
     welfare, and strong enough to ward off the power of the 
     special interests.
       I do not want to see a federal government that is crippled 
     or incapable of playing a significant role in the life of 
     this country. Government should be able to provide for the 
     national security, help address social problems, protect the 
     environment, and to do the many other things we have come to 
     expect it to do. Sometimes government gets in our way, but 
     other times it can be helpful to ordinary people in their 
     effort to succeed, to have opportunity, and to correct 
     instances of oppression and injustice.


                        Confidence in government

       Our country has seen major changes in recent years--the 
     globalization of our economy, the federal deficit 
     constraining government's ability to deal with problems, the 
     end of the Cold War and the less coherent framework for 
     international relations, and the shift of many Americans 
     toward individual freedom and consumption and away from 
     restraint and sense of duty. All of this change has brought 
     formidable challenges to policymakers, and government has not 
     always performed well. Confidence in government has declined.
       Government has lost so much respect in recent years that 
     it threatens the ability to make good policy. If we are to 
     have effective government and effective public policy then 
     we must improve the confidence of the people in 
     government. Several steps would be helpful. I believe we 
     need more of what the politicians call ``retail 
     politics''--direct contact between the elected 
     representative and the people. Today too much of our 
     politics is based on the work of consulting firms, 
     pollsters, and media advisors, and voters have difficulty 
     feeling real ties to the people they elect to govern them. 
     We will strengthen the confidence of the people in 
     government if we can engage them more in the process. 
     Elected officials can also help restore confidence in 
     government by promising less and producing more, focussing 
     better on what the citizens want, working together across 
     party and ideological lines for shared goals, and 
     restoring greater civility to the political debate.
       But perhaps the most important step is to improve public 
     understanding of what government has done and can do. Those 
     of us who see important reasons for government to act must be 
     willing not just to criticize government and point out its 
     faults, but also to make clear what government has been able 
     to accomplish--from preserving our security and building the 
     interstate highway system to setting up the national parks 
     and sharply reducing poverty among older persons through 
     Social Security. It is important that all of us have an 
     understanding of the limits of government but also an 
     understanding that government works well in many areas. I 
     simply do not see how it is possible to deal with many of our 
     problems without a minimal public confidence in government.


                               CONCLUSION

       I know there are a lot of voices today saying that 
     representative democracy in this country just doesn't work 
     very well. And it's certainly not difficult to point to 
     instances when it does not. But on the other hand, given the 
     number and complexity of the problems we confront, my view is 
     that our representative democracy works reasonably well. I do 
     not for a moment agree with those who think that the American 
     system has failed or that the future of the country is bleak.

     

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