Political Systems & Ideas, Part I

Is direct democracy a good idea? Is representative government a better idea? How can we reform our malfunctioning system of government? Are other democratic countries really doing any better? Is Congress (or the Parliament, Duma, Bundestag, et cetera) mostly representing interest groups or the people?

So many questions! Some may have reflected your own thoughts about the political system in your country. Some may seem obvious to you: Of course our congress is paid for by big business. (What about nonprofit groups like the National Rifle Association?)

So what ideas do you have about the government and the political system more generally? Do any of these ideas ring true:

1. The government should stick to its Constitutionaly prescribed duties.
2. The government should take cre of the less fortunate.
3. Our system of government is broken and needs to be fixed.
4. Maybe a small group of intelligent, educated professionals could do a better job than the politicians.

Maybe you can add other ideas? Maybe your ideas depend on what level of government we are discussing. The federal government should have one set of duties. like defense and foreign relations, while states take care of education and social welfare programs.

All of your ideas, including the "right" answers to the questions that I posed at the start of this blog, come from the usual sources. Religious leaders, teachers, parents, friends, and the media all carry ideas about politics and government. We observe some of these ideas and integrate them into our thinking. This is fine, but sometimes leads to the bad ideas being treated like good ideas, and we won't see it this way because of the perspective we've acquired from others.

Next time: More comments on where our ideas come from and how they affect the political system.