6.8.3 Communication with Politicians
Communication with politicians tells them what people want; free speech helps with good governance, but some want to suppress dissent.
The role of politicians was described at the start of this chapter (6.1.2). They act as decision-makers and as intermediaries between the population and the services it requires. 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.
Responsive governance
Politicians can respond to the pressures on them (6.4.1), and they can consult the population if they want to (6.5.3). And the channels for communication with politicians have speeded up with Internet social media (6.4.2). A government has no excuse for not knowing what people want. Political parties who correctly sense the public mood are more likely to win elections in a democracy or be able to retain power in authoritarian political systems.
The dangers of ignoring people
A government that wants to govern well encourages communication with politicians, and it is a warning sign if it suppresses criticism. For example, Margaret Thatcher ignominiously lost power at least partly because she ignored protests in what has been described as Thatcher’s poll tax miscalculation:
“It was Margaret Thatcher’s biggest political misjudgement – and brought her career as prime minister to an ignominious end.
The poll tax (or community charge) was supposed to make local council finance fairer and more accountable. Instead it triggered civil disobedience and riots and a rebellion in the Conservative Party.”
The failure to listen to what the people wanted was fatal to her career.
Breakdowns in political communication
American politics is deeply divided, as described earlier (6.3.2.8). Republicans and Democrats no longer want to talk to each other. This received a lot of publicity with the ‘No Kings’ protests in the Autumn of 2025. As described by Heather Cox Richardson:
“millions of Americans and their allies turned out across the United States and around the globe to demonstrate their commitment to American democracy and their opposition to a president and an administration apparently bent on replacing that democracy with a dictatorship.
Administration loyalists tried to claim the No Kings protests would be “hate America” rallies”.
American democracy was under threat, yet the Administration refused to listen. And the problem was made worse by coinciding with a government shutdown due to lack of Congress agreement to continued funding.
Different angles on communication with politicians
● Governments need to know what people want if they are to govern well (6.8.3.1). Government survival depends on its acceptability to the population.
● Freedom of speech is needed, so that people can express themselves without fear of reprisal (6.8.3.2). Although it is tempting to suggest that it should be completely unrestricted, some limits are needed in practice.
● There are several ways of suppressing free speech, and many examples of the practice (6.8.3.3). The politicians concerned want to escape criticism, but they undermine their own legitimacy.
Politicians risk becoming unacceptable to the populations that they serve if they cannot hear any criticism.
This page is intended to form part of Edition 4 of the Patterns of Power series of books. An archived copy of it is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition04/683a.htm.