A fundamental, and beautiful, aspect of representative democracy is that citizens can participate in the governmental process. Citizens elect representatives at all levels of government … local, county, state and federal … to enact the laws that protect them and provide other government services for them. Citizens have the right to petition the representatives and to attend the government hearings and meetings to engage in meaningful discourse about possible legislation.

It is a fundamental right and responsibility. Citizens must participate in the process; if they do not receive input from the people they represent, elected “public servants” will make decisions predicated on their personal, informed ideas about the legislation they are considering. Hopefully, their decisions will be directed  by a higher sense of benefitting the majority of the citizens they represent.

However there are cases in which the elected “public servants” cast their votes for purposes other than the public good, either innocently or because there is benefit or gain. The point is: Citizens must become involved in the process! 

During last night’s Public Property Read the rest of this entry »