If polls are to be believed, a majority of Americans support a compromise on the debt ceiling impasse that contains a balance of spending cuts and tax increases. They also suggest that people prefer policies that focus on jobs, not the deficit.
Here are three articles supporting this argument:
- G.O.P.’s No-Tax Stance Is Outside Political Mainstream.
- Concerns About Economy, Jobs Outweigh Worries About Deficit.
- Dueling Debt Ceiling Polls.
Nevertheless, Republicans are pushing - seemingly with success - a spending only package. These policies seem to not comport with those supported by the general public. Our basic understanding of democracy is that policies will follow the will of the majority. That does not seem to be what's happening here, so what's up?
There are two ways to address this question.
First, recall that we are a democratic republic, meaning that people voted into institutions are responsible for passing policies, not the general public. Federalist #10 explains the reasoning behind this and it boils down to ensuring that policymakers are removed from the direct, and often irrationally passionate, preferences of the general public. This allows for policy making to be immune from the "mob" and hopefully based on rational, sober thinking.
But one might argue that this is not a satisfactory explanation, since members of the House especially do seem to be closely connected to at least a segment of the general population. So perhaps the better explanation is that the current electoral environment is such that the preferences of the general population do not matter to members of Congress - especially members of the House of Representatives.
Prior to running in the general election, they have to run in primary elections. They do so every two years, and the districts they run in are gerrymandered so that they are dominated by people affiliated with either of the two major political parties. Members of the House do not need to worry - primarily - about making the general population happy, they need to worry about the preferences of the primary voters in their districts. It is their opinions - and their electoral support - that matter most. So even though the general population may not support what is happening in Congress, it is rational - based on the design of our electoral process - for incumbents to discount that opinion in favor of the more immediate preferences of primary voters.
So the more important question for us is whether the current electoral process distorts democracy.
This is a point we hit - party polarization - in both 2301 and 2302.
