03 June 2009
Community Organizing on a National Scale
The email campaigns by Organizing for America, signed by Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mitch Stewart and perhaps others, on behalf of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor attempt to transform the Congressional confirmation process into a national referendum. There is probably no danger that her appointment to the Court is in danger of failing; however, the exercise will give this organization good practice for legislative battles in the future. It may also convince Obama’s supporters that mobilizing their collective will in this way makes the federal government, and particularly the Congress, more responsive to the will of the people.
Members of Congress were not elected to parrot the expressed currents of opinion in their constituencies. If they were their election would no longer be necessary at all—the Internet or Twitter could be used as a substitute for representational deliberation.
Aren’t the peoples’ representatives supposed to know their constituents well enough accurately to reflect their preferences? It’s a result of modern human laziness and the refined expertise of influence peddlers that the model of representational democracy no longer works the way the Framers of the Constitution had in mind. Perhaps Organizing for America intends to demonstrate how to combat expensive commercial media campaigns by virtually kicking the public in the butt with regard to the Sotomajor confirmation issue. It will take more than a few specific issue-oriented efforts by Organizing for America, however, to change (ah, that word) the way the U.S. government operates. The harder and more essential task is to make something like OfA into an effective instrument for enlisting continuing and thoughtful involvement in government by all citizens.
The email campaigns by Organizing for America, signed by Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mitch Stewart and perhaps others, on behalf of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor attempt to transform the Congressional confirmation process into a national referendum. There is probably no danger that her appointment to the Court is in danger of failing; however, the exercise will give this organization good practice for legislative battles in the future. It may also convince Obama’s supporters that mobilizing their collective will in this way makes the federal government, and particularly the Congress, more responsive to the will of the people.
Members of Congress were not elected to parrot the expressed currents of opinion in their constituencies. If they were their election would no longer be necessary at all—the Internet or Twitter could be used as a substitute for representational deliberation.
Aren’t the peoples’ representatives supposed to know their constituents well enough accurately to reflect their preferences? It’s a result of modern human laziness and the refined expertise of influence peddlers that the model of representational democracy no longer works the way the Framers of the Constitution had in mind. Perhaps Organizing for America intends to demonstrate how to combat expensive commercial media campaigns by virtually kicking the public in the butt with regard to the Sotomajor confirmation issue. It will take more than a few specific issue-oriented efforts by Organizing for America, however, to change (ah, that word) the way the U.S. government operates. The harder and more essential task is to make something like OfA into an effective instrument for enlisting continuing and thoughtful involvement in government by all citizens.
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