Why should public opinion matter in a democracy and in what ways, specifically, has the role of public opinion increased over time?

Answer 1

Public opinion, in a democracy, inherently must matter, since the point of a democracy is that the elected officials represent the interests of their constituents. This means that if an official ignores their constituents opinions, whether those opinions are correct or not, they are not representing the interest of their constituents. As for how this role has increased over time, I would argue that it has not. Instead, what has increased is the speed at which public opinion becomes widely known. Harping on the benefits and detriments of mass media has become a constant thing in the last few years, but what cannot be denied is that politicians are able to know within a week what their constituents think about particular positions. This has led to political positions shifting as fast as public opinion does, with a net negative effect on politics in the United States as a whole, as less and less is actually achieved by Congress. So, while it may seem contradictory to say that public opinion matters while also believing that shifting public opinion has a negative influence on politics, the end result is that this is the side effect of democracy.