Changing the Conversation: An Argument Against Conventional Associative Voting
...rvative advocates. Congressman Bernie Sanders began his stint in Congress with the self-conceived goals stated during his electoral victory in 1990: I have a vision, which I think is quite different than most members of congress. I want to change the conversation, to raise issues that are not being talked about, to provide a voice inside the building; the Capitol] that is not always heard. I want to make people feel they’re part of the process, part of a movement. (Grover and Peschek 2005) It was not long that Sanders message of “changing the conversation” needed some amendment. Sanders came to the realization that the mundane repetition of the Legislative process would not allow him to change the system through outspoken cries, and revolutionary wisdom alone, he would need to work endlessly within his district to educate citizens, and put them on the offensive. Sanders political thought is widely known as an outsider approach with an, “intense commitment to class based politics, a fundamental critique of the two-party system and a socialist ideology that questions the roots of the U.S. political economy” (Grover and Peschek 2005). Sanders envisions the immediate need for change within the economic programs of Republican leaders, which lead to persistent income and wealth inequalities. Sanders works to change the conversation of congress away from the ten-point republican contract, to a system that advocates: A comprehensive Canadian-style single-payer national health care system, full funding basic human needs for children, the elderly and the poor, dramatic cuts in the defense budget, redistribution of income and wealth, expansion of workers’ rights and improvement in the quality of democracy and citizen participation (Grover and Peschek 2005). Sanders liberal Democratic welfare manifesto is obviously a far cry from the current Republican agenda, however, it is mavericks like him that lead to political progression. It is important to have rouge politicians in...