Pols 300 Assignment 1
When you are at the bottom of the American class structure you rarely hear anything about politicians or the about our government with the exception of the President giving a speech or candidates trying to get attention for their campaigns like Donald Trump making racist comments; the working class appears to be just as polarized from Congress as it is to us. So when you hear about a Latino individual running for a future in politics the whole community goes crazy, praises and applauds the individual being that they are seen as hard workers and an intellects (especially if they are from a humble beginning) and this is because representation is power.
Reading these articles has opened up a whole new world to me in terms understanding who politicians are and why they act the way they do. It’s no surprise to me that races that are considered “minorities” in the U.S. are minorities in the terms of numbers in Congress. It is hard to believe that a Latino minority in office could have any influence with 6.7 percent Congressional Seats (Davidson) and I do not need a census to know that we are underrepresented. It leads me to believe that these Latino representatives possibly act more as delegates in their districts than trustees to win re-election.
Being that Latino communities in districts tend to be less wealthy, they have demonstrated time and time again to be less informed or less interested about policies in the presidential voting results. This is when Congressmen have to choose whether acting as trustees and potentially loosing office next term or becoming mere puppets of their constituents. And this heavily affects representation in this country because this means that other congressional districts that may be wealthier may have more influence and power which could lead to legislative measures in their favor, whether it is for tax cuts on their businesses or importing more immigrants for cheap labor.
I favor having Congressmen act as delegates to their districts because the people do elect them for the purpose of having the representatives voice the opinions of the people. “A majority of voters (55.4 percent) wanted the representative to do what the voters think best (i.e., the delegate model).” – Medvic. I would be angered if a politician I voted for is not pushing for legislation that I thought he would because it would benefit me as a constituent.
The thought of descriptive representation among Latino communities can be a double sided knife. It helps Latino representatives win and stay in office in districts where a majority of the community is Latino which is what this country needs to be more balanced in terms of racial representation in Congress. The problem with this is it could work against the districts to have their concerns voiced because the politicians may feel less pressured to act as representatives.
People have to wake up and realize that being active in politics is not just voting for the president once every four years; it involves voting for congressmen every two years, being active in city councils to be up to date with how the city is being run. I believe that constituent’s responsibilities include but are not limited to mailing congressional representative on views of an issue and expressing beliefs whether it is protesting or burning the flag. There are various ways to pressure representatives and to let them know that there is a voice to be heard and that there are people in their districts that are alive.
