The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
Winston Churchill once said, “Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all the other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
“Democracy” literally means “rule by the people.” But it is never “the people” who rule in a democracy. Instead it is the elected representatives of political parties who govern on behalf of the people. So what is the place of people in political parties?
Parties always try to entice people to become dues-paying or voluntary-donating members of their organizations. Most people who consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans in American politics make that decision based on the policies and ideas promoted by the parties, and not on the basis of any money they give to their party.
So the question is this: Should the parties try to reflect the political positions of the people who identify with their party, or should they try to direct the politics of “their” people? What should be the place of people in political parties?
Theoretically, parties consist of individual people who are particularly devoted to particular political policies and ideas. Those who are elected to office are the professionals. The rest of the party people are amateurs. It is the responsibility of elected officials or those who campaign for office to convince voters of the validity of their policies. It should always be anathema for parties merely to try to discern what the people want, unless they, the parties, are convinced it is what the people truly need.
I knew a famous minister who frequently declared that the purpose of leaders is to lead. It sounds like a truism, but it isn’t. Political leaders must shape what they believe are the best policies for their constituents; they must not try to espouse what their constituents want if they think that “popular” (people’s) ideas are bad for the country.
In their campaigning and in their governing, politicians should deliberately avoid using propaganda as that is commonly understood in what they say and do. Instead, they should concentrate on the propagation of the best policies and concepts. That means that they, the politicians, are the ones who primarily must cultivate values in the populace rather than merely to attempt to decipher the desires of the populace.
Too many politicians are prostitutes of public opinion rather than propagators of public opinion. If they are to be political leaders, they must convince the people of what should be done instead of trying to follow what they think the people want to be done.
Political parties have one of the most important roles in every democracy. It is their duty to lead the people into doing what ought to happen rather to follow the wishes of what a majority of the people want to happen.
Thus the people (the voters) also have a very lofty responsibility. It is their duty to determine which politicians or candidates promote the best values for the entire society. Ideally, that is the most important place of the people in the political parties. However, as Churchill might have said, in this world of sin and woe all of the above is hard to achieve.
John Miller is Pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC. More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.