Opinion: The U.S. Constitution is not a parliamentary system. Why are we treating it like one?
Wheatley Fellow Jeremy Pope published an op-ed in Deseret News. The article examines voting for a straight party ticket and its implications.
Americans fought a war in the 1700s deeply rooted in the idea that the citizens needed a voice in government for any such government to be legitimate. And they were right, but how well are American voices heard these days? Sadly, the voices of Americans are filtered imperfectly through parties that often do not quite represent people.
In the American constitutional system, citizen voices are registered through voting for individual officeholders who collectively come together to debate and represent America’s multifaceted interests and values. Voting is thus both a fundamental constitutional right and our foremost civic duty. Voting rates are up, and that is good, but our current state of heavy partisanship is out of step with our form of government and may indicate we’re abandoning our civic duty to vote thoughtfully and responsibly for true representation.