Despite trustees and delegates being elected individuals, their voting processes are very different. Trustees are people who cast ballots on behalf of their constituents on various matters. A trustee decides on a conclusion or judgment to resolve a dispute after hearing from all sides. Based on prior interactions and experiences, the leaders wield their authority freely and conduct themselves as they see fit (Brookhart, 8). However, when making decisions, leaders should act in the best interests of their constituency, the political parties they support, and the country as a whole.
The delegate model, in contrast, calls on leaders to base their decisions solely on the constituents’ expressed views and worldviews. Delegates in this paradigm have no autonomy and only function to follow the established norms on governance at the local and national levels, in contrast to trustee representation, where the trustee acts to represent the constituents in parliament. This implies that representatives are unable ever to assert their rights. (Correa-Lopera, 18). Contrary to the interests of the people in trustee representation, delegates are chosen to represent the constituent. In conclusion, each model represents the public in the national sphere. Delegate, on the other hand, focuses on the party that elected the representative, whereas the trustee model helps the constituent (Brookhart, 8).
As a constituent, I will choose delegate representation since it addresses constituent complaints because the representative only acts by constituent requests. For instance, if the people request that the government build a road in the area, the representative will ask the government for the same thing, giving the influence of the constituent. In contrast, I would choose the trustee representation model if I were a representative since I would not be subject to constituent pressure. There will be less accountability to the constituents since I would conduct all actions following what I believe to be.
Works Cited
Brookhart, Jennifer L. “Mixing Representation.” (2015).
Correa-Lopera, Guadalupe. Why Delegate? Comparing Direct and Representative Democracy. No. 2018-01. 2018.