by Michelle Graf

Created on: August 31, 2009   Last Updated: September 02, 2009

There seems to be a lot of confusion these days about the meaning of the word democracy. A democracy is a system of rule by which the members of a society vote for the representative that they feel best reflects their interests, without regard to status of birth. Democracy is not a euphanism for the American way of life, whatever an individual believes that to be. It has very little to do with individual freedoms versus the society, and a democracy is not meant to represent every individual's preferences and beliefs, but those of the majority.

Town hall meetings are a throwback to the days before 24 hour news, internet or even radio and were designed as a mechanism to disseminate information to the people. A candidate or elected official would hold a town hall meeting in order to inform their constituents of an issue, answer questions, and get a picture of what their constituents felt on the issue.

Town hall meetings of today are really no different - they are a mechanism to exchange information on an issue. There is no opportunity to vote, so no democratic activity, by definition takes place. The only purpose and the only result of a town hall meeting is the transfer of information.

At their best, town hall meetings can be an excellent opportunity for elected officials to hear from their constituents. Of course, this is no better nor worse method than writing a letter, calling a constituent's office, or sending an email. If constituents want to hear about issues, they have a multitude of sources - newspapers, television, radio, internet.

Beyond the 24 hour news pundits, there are several sources where constituents can directly see and hear what their representative's position on an issue is - the Congressional Record is available on line, C-Spans One and Two televise debates, and most representatives have excellent websites outlining their positions on all the issues of the day.

At worst, town hall meetings become forums for the disgruntled to shout down any attempts to relay any useful information, as we have seen of late with respect to the health care issues.

Several months prior to a general election, the parties get together and decide on their respective platforms on all the pressing issues of the day. They poll extensively to find out what those issues are. Once they have decided upon a platform and a plan for addressing those issues, they elect the candidates that they feel best can represent those platforms. These candidates present their platforms and their plans to the citizenry, who then has an opportunity to vote on the candidate and the platform that they feel best represents their interests. This is the definition of democracy - nothing more and nothing less.

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