Doctor Zero over at Hot Air has written a post entitled “Representation Without Taxation.” He discusses the problems of having an electorate where half the people don’t pay income taxes. I look at this situation as a little less sinister. The reason people vote for the entitlement state isn’t because they’re voting in their best interest. I’m sure some may vote that way, but research suggests otherwise. I touched on this subject briefly a few years ago reviewing Bryan Caplan’s book The Myth of the Rational Voter.
The reason democracies do not work isn’t because people vote for their self interests (he [Bryan Caplan] debunks that idea), but because people are too uninformed to make the correct decision. A citizen may vote for a candidate because he/she is in favor of price controls. The voter thinks price controls are for the best of the country; however, it’s bad for everyone.
The real problem here is voter ignorance and I don’t think it can be solved. The Founding Fathers created our Republic in such a way that the voters didn’t have direct control. The original constitution only allowed direct election of the House of Representatives. The Senate and the President were supposed to be chosen by elected leaders or electors who were better educated about the issues.
It's okay that the typical voter is too ignorant to understand why the minimum wage law hurts low income earners. Our elected officials however, shouldn't indulge the ignorance.
Slowly but surely direct democracy has eaten away at our elected leadership. Political parties now keep finding new things to scare their ignorant constituents into supporting. Senators used to yield to the will of their state legislators, now they’re elected in a mob rule fashion every six years. Voters should be electing the most educated and qualified candidates available. Instead we get movie stars, car dealers, social workers, professional athletes, and career students who run for office. Obviously, some of these people actually understand economics, but the majority doesn’t get it.
I am of the opinion that our Republic has moved “progressively” too far to a direct democracy. However, the cat is already out of the bag.
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