State and Human Development in the Context of the Ideological Conflict between Capitalism and Communism. O. S. Zibrov

Чтение книги онлайн.

      As this definition indicates, a deputy is a representative of the PEOPLE. Therefore, when representing not his, but people’s interests, they must express not their own will, but the will of the people. It raises a simple but important question: How can we say whose interests a deputy represents at the moment of decision-making? Their own? Or the people’s? No answer is provided to this question by the law. But we can find the answer if we look into the theory.

      From the theoretical perspective, the representee’s will can be unraveled in the instruction’s contents (what should be done and how; what will happen if it is not done) and enshrined in the form of a document that makes it clear what the representative is authorized to do on behalf of the representee. With that in mind, representation suggests that the representee shall refer to the representative, not vice versa. A deputy does not have any of the above-mentioned, therefore, in theory, a deputy only represents their own interests. Moreover, the very addressing of a deputy to their electorate is an offer that expresses the deputy’s will, while the electorate can either accept or reject it. Basically, the electorate only estimates in this case whether the deputy’s offer meets their interests, which is not a choice but an estimation.

      Furthermore, the law ends abruptly with the phrase “a representative of the people.” Nothing is said about the instruction, its form, or responsibility, and therefore, even according to the law, a deputy is not really a representative of the people. They are rather an ordinary, albeit elected, public officer, a bureaucrat. And they shall be treated like one.