Question

Should legislators act as their constituents would if they were present, or should they work to “enlarge and refine” the public will? Does it depend on the issue at hand? Are there contemporary forces pushing legislators toward one perspective?

Answer 1

Legislators are meant to enlarge and refine the public will.

Explanation:

A lot of bias would be accumulated if legislators act as their constituents, because they cannot know what everybody wants without a proper vote. As representative as Congress is, it would not make sense to let them think like the people, and let them make decisions as if they were the people. A European enlightenment philosopher known as Thomas Hobbes claims that humans are arrogant, and the government cannot trust them as they always think that they are correct. However, a more efficient part of the government (the senate) would be better at doing a job more "correctly." A position of government should be looked at as a service, not a job. However, because of the 2 party system, government officials are favoring their respective parties, instead of favoring the people as a whole.

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