WIRED DEMOCRACY
"Congress is becoming a poll-watching, poll-taking Babel, far from the independent deliberative body envisioned by the Founders."
Duane Robertson Orangevale, California
Your report on electronic populism hits the bull's-eye: contemporary communications systems too easily accommodate everybody's reactions to everything [Cover Stories, Jan. 23]. Senators cite percentages gleaned from phone and fax communications from the citizenry to prop up their points. doesn't help with its frequent telephone polls. It is high time we give our representatives some breathing space to legislate without constant reference to the whimsy of the popular opinions of the moment. Even if 50 million people say...
