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The Electors Of Bristol Essay

Decent Essays

“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion”, said the Irish political philosopher, Edmund Burke. Through time, the same question has popped up in the American minds: are representatives actually elected to represent us and our best interests, or on the contrary, to perform according to their concerns? In his “Letter to the Electors of Bristol”, Burke argues several controversial points; as an Irish vying for the American territories to continue with virtual representation, why would he also defend their rights as existing colonies? Members of congress (senators as well as representatives of the house) are chosen through a thoughtful process, by the legislature of the United States, or by the Constituency itself. Finally, if these are to break rules or not comply with their job duties, they may be expelled from Congress.

As advocates of the United States of America, congressmen/women choose between two styles of representation: the trustee model (reflects closer to the Senate), or the delegate model (reflects closer to the House of Representatives). The election of these models will depend on the agents’ list of priorities and placement of interests. The first mentioned model consists on a very trustful body of citizens in which full liberty and faith is set on the elected trustee representatives for them to work on the people’s behalf and take deeply into consideration

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