My Philosophy of Democracy

I believe that as citizens, it is our responsibility to actively participate in the government. To do this, we must be educated. Democracy is a government run by the people, and if the people are not educated, then that says little for the government. If we are not knowledgeable about domestic and foreign issues then how can we formulate ideas about what we would like to see happen? If we know only that Iraq is a “bad place”, but do not understand the subtleties, we are very unlikely to be able to form intelligent opinions about the war. If we do not know our laws, how can we as a people, make sure that the government is acting legally? Citizens must be educated about the candidates in a given election, so that when they vote they can make informed choices on who they want to represent them.
Our job as citizens is not done once the elected officials reach office. Those we have elected cannot read our minds and so to continue to have the government be “by the people” we must communicate with our representatives to let them know our feelings. This way they can represent us to the best of their ability. If we just sit back and wait for things to happen we are giving our power to the government and trusting they will make the right decision.
At the same time the government must show us that our efforts will amount to something. If citizens take an active role in government and their voices are ignored, then the government is effectively killing off democracy. I believe that for democracy to work politics must be free of egos, competition and personal agendas. An effective politician in a democracy should be exceptionally ethical, selfless, compassionate and pragmatic. Ethical, in that they do what they know is right; selfless in that they put the country before their career; compassionate in that they show caring for even the most wretched constituents and pragmatic in that they focus on what is actually attainable. That may be an unrealistic expectation, but I am writing about the ideal democracy. I feel like so much of politics involves politicians angling to keep their office or to get higher up. What should be a group of elected representatives working for the people instead becomes a group of people competing against one another. I think this aspect of our democracy is very alienating to Americans looking for active leadership in our government.
Democracy works best when the largest amounts of people are actively involved, and more people are likely to participate if they see their government as working for them. I know that I, for one, am put off by empty promises made to get public support. I want to hear candidates and officials telling me how they will help to make our country better, not why I should like them more than their opponent.
Basically I see democracy as being a two-way street in which constituents and representatives are mutually accountable to one another. If either end fails to uphold their side of the bargain, then democracy fails.