Democracy is not government by public opinion poll, and legislators have an obligation to do what is right.
--Alan Wolfe. Professor of political science at Boston College. Wolfe is writing a book on political evil.
The quote is taken from a review of a new book by Derek Bok, former president of Harvard. The book is in the new discipline of behavioral economics and is entitled, The Politics of Happiness.
In a recent post, I commented about my fears and skepticism regarding polling the public. I believe polling inherently results in people thinking that legislators should pay serious sense to polls. That's utter nonsense. It's pretty clear that much of the most significant policy is not driven by public polls. Certainly, I'm aware that paternalism or elitism accompanies that view. But what might make people happy is not necessarily what will promote well-being.
