Just for whom do elected officials work, anyway?

Congressman Harold "Hal" Rogers recently became Kentucky's longest-serving United States representative, breaking a record held by the late William Natcher, who died in 1994 while still holding office. Rogers, first elected in 1980, was recently feted in Frankfort where members of both parties praised his longevity. The ceremony held by state General Assembly leaders generated some news coverage in the Bluegrass State.

Rogers' appearance in the headlines, combined with several other recent attention-grabbing news stories, made me recall a workplace lunchtime conversation from nearly 40 years ago that is more relevant than ever today.

He may be a veteran now, but back in the mid-1980s, Rogers was very much what today is referred to as a "newbie." He hadn't been in Congress very long when I began working alongside Malcolm "Mac" Kilduff at my hometown newspaper.

For the uninitiated, Kilduff was the assistant presidential press secretary who made the announcement of President Kennedy's death in November 1963, and subsequently recorded the swearing-in of President Johnson aboard Air Force One. He had met a Lee County native named Rosemary Porter, and when she retired from government service, they married and moved back to her hometown of Beattyville. Mac took a job as a newspaper editor and was a friend and mentor as well as a co-worker for a few years in the 1980s.

At some point during Rogers' early years in Congress, he had surveyed his constituency on several prominent issues. At the time, Rogers represented the "old Fifth," a congressional district made up of mostly-Republican counties in south-central Kentucky, back when Kentucky had seven districts instead of its current six. Lee County was in Rogers' district then, as it is now.

One of the questions on the survey concerned some policy initiative favored by President Reagan. I can't recall after many years what, exactly, that policy was, but it really doesn't matter for purposes of this discussion.

The "old Fifth" was staunchly GOP and Reagan country, but on this particular policy, the majority of Rogers' constituents indicated they were against it. Rogers' response to that polling, was, basically, "Most of you stated you're opposed to this initiative, but I stand with President Reagan and I intend to support and vote for this anyway because I think it's the right thing to do."

This touched off a spirited discussion between Mac Kilduff and me. I was of the opinion that Rogers was doing his constituents a disservice by defying their wishes and supporting the proposal. Kilduff said that members of Congress are sent there to use their best judgment on how to vote on such matters.

Despite what you read every day, the United States of America is not a democracy. We don't have true majority rule as determined by the populace. Some states have various components of a true democracy, such as ballot initiatives and referenda, but they aren't commonplace. The country is instead established as a representative republic, where we elect officials to carry out our wishes when making law and policy. Most state governments are set up in this manner as well.

Still, we expect our representatives to listen to their constituents and respond the way the majority of them want. This is increasingly becoming less common, as government officials and agencies enact widely unpopular restrictions and requirements.

We do not elect officials, nor do we put people on the public payroll, to tell us what to do. Instead, we put them in place to do what we tell them to do, subject to legal or constitutional restrictions. Any politician who brags about making unpopular decisions needs to be removed from office at the first available opportunity.

We've come to a point in society where a government operating of, by, and for the people is an exception rather than the rule. When the people actually get the government to do what they want done instead of what the government wants to do, it's big news.

Once recent event took place in Pulaski County. Residents of the area were concerned over something they considered to be a safety hazard. They knew how they wanted the problem solved. Yet when they asked the government to take action, the agency responded that it already had a different plan under development. That didn't satisfy the locals. The proposed solution was not what they wanted. So they protested, loudly. They took to social media, contacted the mass media, and organized a public meeting to make their wishes known. The agency head finally relented, overruled the bureaucracy, and ordered the solution that the people were demanding.

This is how government should, in theory, operate. The citizenry makes its wishes know and the government follows through on it. Elected officials and appointed or career bureaucrats shouldn't substitute their wishes or their judgment for the wants of the majority.

Officials have to abide by the state and federal constitutions, as well as laws passed by various applicable legislative bodies. But policies don't have the force of law, and can be rewritten at any time. If a government official says "that's against our policy," then call them out and demand they change the policy.

The next few elections will become de facto referenda on recent government decisions. Local school boards are now tackling the issue of mask mandates. The mandates are highly unpopular, yet many school districts are signing on to them after that decision became their responsibility. Next year, during school board elections, taxpayers and voters will decide whether or not they agree with those decisions. That's the way it should be.

And in the following year, Gov. Andy Beshear will stand before voters of Kentucky, who will pass judgment on how he's handled things. His forced business closures, his restrictions on individual liberties, his bans on attending church, his handling of the state's unemployment insurance woes -- all will be on the ballot. The electorate will get to decide whether they approve of those decisions, or whether they disagree with them. 

Our nation's founding document, the Declaration of Independence, declares in it second paragraph that the only legitimate government is one that derives its powers from the consent of the governed. Well, the governed haven't given their consent for many things that have been forced upon them in recent years.

So remember, if your elected officials aren't carrying out your wishes, they aren't doing their jobs. Hold them accountable at the ballot box.