CHAPTER ONE • THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBlIC 17
One way to begin to understand the American polit-
ical system is to observe a legislative body in action.
By “legislative body,” we don’t mean only the U.S.
Congress and the various state legislatures—there
are thousands of elected legislatures in the United
States at all levels of government. You might choose
to visit a city council, a school board, or a township
board of trustees.Why Should You Care? Local legislative bodies
can have a direct impact on your life. For example,
city councils or county commissions typically over-
see the police or the sheriff’s department, and the
behavior of the police is a matter of interest even
if you live on campus. If you live off campus, local
authorities are responsible for an even greater
number of issues that affect you directly. Are there
items that the sanitation department refuses to
pick up, for example? You might be able to change
its policies by lobbying your councilperson.making a difference
SEEING DEMOCRACY IN ACTION
Even if there are no local issues that concern you,
there are still benefits to be gained from observing a local
legislative session. You may discover that local govern-
ment works rather differently than you expected. You
might learn, for example, that the representatives of
your political party do not serve your interests as well as
you thought—or that the other party is much more sen-
sible than you had presumed.What Can You Do? To find out when and where local
legislative bodies meet, look up the number of the city
hall or county building in the telephone directory or on
the Internet, and call the clerk of the council. If you live in
a state capital such as Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or Santa
Fe, New Mexico, you can view a meeting of the state
legislature instead. In many communities, city council
meetings and county board meetings can be seen on pub-
lic-access TV channels. Many cities and almost all state
governments have Internet Web sites.
Before attending a business session of the legisla-
ture, try to find out how the members are elected. Are
the members chosen by the “at-large” method of elec-
tion, so that each member represents the whole commu-
nity, or are they chosen by specific geographic districts
or wards? Is there a chairperson or official leader who
controls the meetings? What are the responsibilities of
this body?
When you visit, keep in mind the theory of represen-
tative democracy. The commissioners or council members
are elected to represent their constituents (those who
voted them into office). Observe how often the members
refer to their constituents or to the special needs of their
community or electoral district. Listen for sources of con-
flict within a community. If there is a debate, for example,
over a zoning proposal that involves an issue of land use,
try to figure out why some members oppose the proposal.
If you want to follow up on your visit, try to get a
brief interview with one of the members of the council or
board. In general, legislators are very willing to talk to
students, particularly students who also are voters. Ask
the member how he or she sees the job of representative.
How can the wishes of the constituents be identified?
How does the representative balance the needs of the par-
ticular ward or district that she or he represents with the
good of the entire community? You can write to many leg-
islators through e-mail. You might ask how much e-mail
they receive and who actually answers it.Betsy Price, right, Republican mayor of Fort
Worth, Texas, gives her cowboy hat to the ambassador
from the United Arab Emirates. Emirates airline had just
introduced the first commercial nonstop flights from
Dallas–Fort Worth to the Middle East. (AP Photo/The Fort
Worth Star-Telegram, Max Faulkner)Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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