Following the US presidential elections, we have been hearing a lot about "the people." The people have "spoken," the people have "chosen," and the people have "decided."
It is understandable why such expressions are used, given the drama of the elections and the significance of the impending change within the US administration. After all, the winner has the power to shape reality for the next four years.
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However, when one looks at the numbers, it turns out that this phrase might be greatly exaggerated. The voters – aka "the people" – are usually divided in half, with only a small percent of the votes determining the election. Moreover, the final decision on who will be the country's leader depends on factors other than the popular vote. In Israel, it's forming the coalition, and in the United States, it's the electoral system.
Contrary to popular belief, democracy is not a system for conducting ideological debates and making decisions on a national scale. Democracy is a civil war management system. Polling stations are battlefields. Campaign slogans are battle cries. Power usually remains decentralized in democracy. Whoever wins the presidency does not always take the Congress, and even if he does, the courts will be full of appointees from his predecessors.
The human tendency to mystify politics is a handy tool for experts and jurists. As in the days of Obama, we will soon hear that any disagreement with the US President is "breaking away from America," that a difference of opinion on various issues "damages political relationships."
It is no surprise that such comments are made by the left when there is a Democrat president. It is part of Rousseau's collectivism-essentialist philosophy. Similar claims can be heard regarding the law as well. Anyone who has ever looked at Knesset protocols knows that drafting a law is a process of mutual compromise and precise wording. Still, our jurists know how to use the "spirit of the law" that was supposedly agreed upon by the "legislature" and enact laws accordingly.
The "spirit of the law," "the meaning of the legislator," and the "will of the people" and their popular nephew "the public interest" are fiction designed to serve a progressive agenda. When the left wins, it is always "the people have chosen," but when the right wins, it is always a different story, "enchanting the masses," "Russian interference." "The people have spoken" rhetoric makes it easier to use dictatorial measures, silence opponents, repeal legislation, intervene in political proceedings and indoctrinate children. Politics is war. It merely uses other means. Do not let them win.
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