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by jon l. shebel, publisher
The End Of Representation?
Who hasn’t, in the heat of the moment, said or done something later regretted. The
universality of the experience renders familiar such sentiments as, "Married in
haste, we repent at leisure."
But marriages are more easily dissolved than laws--which seem to gain immortality once
enacted. That same sage advice of patience and caution when passions run high informs the
American blueprint for governance. The mechanism itself is chock-full of roadblocks to the
kind of impetuous actions that lose their luster in the light of dispassionate reflection.
The system of checks and balances infuriates those who prefer quickly done to correctly
done. Slowly, they wear away at the lining in the brakes that prevent precipitous (read
tyrannical) action. That erosion project is embodied by Constitutional Amendment 5,
creating a constitutional agency to manage the state’s fish and wildlife, approved by
Florida’s voters in the November general election.
Two days before the election Miami Herald outdoors columnist Susan Cocking joined the
ranks of those who promised that "Amendment 5 gives power to the people." How
so? It "would keep politicians with no clue about hunting and fishing from
interfering in the regulatory process." All decisions would be snatched from those
the people elect--the politicians--and entrusted with those they do not elect--the
bureaucrats.
How can a transfer of authority to unhindered bureaucrats result in an increase of
power to the people? It can’t. But empowering citizens is just a thin stain over the
flat surface of the true purpose of the proposal. As Cocking explains it, "The state
should not be hampered in efforts to preserve woods and waters for hunters, anglers,
bikers, and everyone else who enjoys the outdoors" (emphasis added).
"The state should not be hampered." Not by constitutional property rights?
Not by the need for jobs and products and services that spring from economic activity? Not
by the need to provide for the arts, education, infrastructure? Is preserving woods and
waters really to become the supreme obligation of the state, to the neglect of all others
including the protection of civil rights?
The attempt to depoliticize politics and governing leads inevitably to the
people’s forfeiture of representation by those they elect. But politics and governing
coexist because of the intractable truth that we have a hard time agreeing about what is
desirable, what is necessary, and what is possible.
Replacing political decision-making with bureaucratic decision-making won’t remove
friction from the process. Nor will it eliminate foolishness or featherbedding. It will
simply destroy the brakes that help avert bad choices and the outlet (elections) for
public anger over those choices.
On page 28, you’ll find an article by Ron Weaver, the land-use attorney that
land-use attorneys listen to, about the evolution of Florida’s growth management
process over the next ten years. He makes no recommendations, merely predictions based on
his insight as well as the historical patterns of Florida’s response to the pressures
of growth. His article is a canary in a mine shaft, a warning that the Growth Management
Act and Florida’s planning regime are nearing a fork in the road.
Where will our political navigators take us? Will they follow the route of Amendment 5
and the comrades of Susan Cocking who fecklessly dream of a people ruled by efficient and
punctual bureaucrats, unencumbered by the bustle and commotion of a representative
democracy? n
Jon L. Shebel is president & CEO of Associated Industries of Florida and
affiliated companies.
Jan/Feb 1998 -- Florida Business Insight, PO Box 784, Tallahassee, Fla. 32302
(850)224-7173, insight@aif.com |
