6.8.3   The Ability to Influence Politicians

(This is an archived page, from the Patterns of Power Edition 3 book.  Current versions are at book contents).

People need to be able to communicate their wishes and concerns to those in power, if governance is to benefit, rather than enslave, the population.  The following arguments are relevant:

·     There are benefits to both the government and the people in allowing such communication (6.8.3.1).

·     Freedom of speech is needed so that people can express themselves without fear of reprisal (6.8.3.2). 

·     There are several mechanisms for suppressing free speech (6.8.3.3), that politicians might resort to for fear of opposition, which reduce their political legitimacy (6.3.5.4). 

Politicians risk becoming unacceptable to the populations that they serve if they cannot hear any criticism.