Why do we call our elected officials “leaders”? In a democracy, the people are supposed to govern. In a republic, the people elect officials to govern in accordance with the will of the people. Our elected officials are supposed to be public servants. Servants are supposed to serve, not lead. But still, we call them “leaders” even though we pay them to serve us.
Why does this bother me? Because calling our elected officials “leaders” is a clear indication that the people have become “followers”, sheeple1 – docile, compliant or easily influenced: people likened to sheep. And it appears to be true. Focusing on legislators (because that’s where the greatest problems are), the vast majority of Americans vote for their legislators not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of party affiliation. Many of those affiliate with a political party solely for emotional and religious reasons having no bearing on the on the general welfare of the public. Some vote for legislators on the basis of their constituent services record, but very few vote for legislators on the basis of their legislative record where they have the greatest impact.
Few Americans follow the legislative voting track record of their legislators and most don’t even know how to find out how their legislators voted on any specific piece of legislation. (And many can’t even name their legislators.) Our Congress now has an approval rating of 21% (75% disapprove and 4% have no opinion) demonstrating that most Americans disapprove the performance of those people elected to Congress. Yet 100% of all incumbent senators who ran for reelection in 2022 were reelected and 94% of all incumbent representatives who ran for reelection were reelected2 3. Why, if we disapprove of the job Congress is doing, are we reelecting its members term after term after term?4 5 Do people really believe that their own congressmen are the only ones doing a good job and all the others are doing a lousy job? Does that make sense?
At election time, some people argue that they don’t approve of the job their legislators are doing, but their choices are limited and they believe that the challenger will do worse, and voting for third party candidates is throwing their vote away. There is limited truth in that argument, but it ignores the opportunity to choose other candidates during primaries where the field is open. But if you look at statistics, you will find that most Americans ignore primaries and only vote in the general elections6, and the majority of those who participate in primary elections are strict partisans. What this boils down to is that, instead of the people demanding they be served by their elected officials, the people are being led – and openly admit to it by calling their elected officials “leaders”.
George Orwell, in his novel 1984, attempted to show us how word usage affects our thinking. In Orwellian fashion, we have been conditioned to refer to our public servants as “leaders” and think of them as such. In so doing, we have abrogated our own responsibilities in governing and instead of having a government of the people, by the people and for the people, we have a government of the people by a few people and for a few people. So let’s call a spade a spade and stop calling our elected officials “leaders” and demand that they be the public servants they are supposed to be. Maybe that will wake up the electorate and help restore some of the democratic principles on which our nation was founded.
1 Sheeple is now a legitimate (American) English word and can be found in the Merriam-Webster unabridged dictionary.
2 Reelection Rates Over the Years, Open Secrets
3 These percentages exclude those senators and representatives who retired, died or otherwise left office willingly.
4 The average number of terms served by house representatives is 4.5 indicating they have been reelected 4 times. James Dingle of Michigan has served in the House for 59 years indicating he has been reeelected 28 times.
5 A common definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
6 The average voter turnout in primaries is somewhere between 20% and 30%. In the 2022 North Dakota Democratic primary, the voter turnout was 2.6%.
7 You are free to respond with your own qualifications for leadership, but think about them before you do.
8 We had one earlier – Jim Webb who was elected senator in Virginia. He ran an honest campaign, promised he would serve only one term (and kept that promise), accomplished much of what he set out to do, and served Virginians well. (I miss him.)