Texas Politics and Topics Political Science

This means that, in this model of representation, the people are constantly providing input to their representative so that he can do their will. His job is to govern exactly as they tell him. The representative, instead of acting in what he feels is the best interest of his district or of the state or country as a whole, will return to his constituents for every issue and attempt to do as they instruct. In this model, the elected official is essentially only a way for the people’s will to be reflected in the legislature, and the official has no autonomy in decisionmaking. A delegate always ensures that his positions are congruent with his voters’ positions. Slide 5 When have we observed representatives behaving like trustees? When have we observed representative behaving like delegates? The delegate model best describes situations in which an elected official attempted to vote as public opinion in his district indicated. Consider the Iraq War, which began in 2003. Initially, a sizeable majority in both the House and Senate voted in favor of military action in Iraq. And, at the time, public opinion was tilted in favor of military action in Iraq, particularly with heightened fear of terrorism in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. However, over time, support among the public for the war in Iraq waned, and the representatives in Congress and the Senate began to withdraw support for continued military action as well. While many critics referred to this as “flip flopping,” it is this exact behavior that we would expect from instructed delegates. When their constituents were in favor of a policy, the representatives were also in favor of that policy. When support among constituents decreased, the representatives changed their votes. Flip flopping is not necessarily a bad or negative thing: it may simply mean that representatives are behaving as delegates and changing their minds as their constituency changes. An example of the delegate model from across the pond in the United Kingdom is the example of Brexit. The United Kingdom held a referendum, which is a vote in which the people can make a decision on a particular policy. The voters were asked whether they wanted the U.K. to remain a part of the European Union or not. In the referendum, the voters chose by a narrow majority to leave the European Union. But the action to leave the E.U. was not final until the UK parliament also voted in favor of leaving. Despite significant concerns in The U.K. and around the world about the impact of leaving the E.U.., the members of parliament acted as their constituents instructed: they voted in favor of Brexit. Slide 6 But there are also countless examples of the trustee model in action. In fact, most issues that come before Congress will be decided without the public ever really paying attention. The minutiae of government requires that representatives vote on the most arcane and sometimes seemingly trivial details of government. For example, the legislature must vote on issues such as renaming air traffic control buildings, pay adjustments for federal employees, authorize memorials, and countless other bills. Thousands of bills are introduced in Congress every year. Representatives cannot possibly return to their district for input on every single bill proposed in the legislature, so they simply must rely on their expertise and experience to decide how to vote on some issues.