More than 200 years ago, the mathematical genius the Marquis the Condorcet proved the political science theorem that there is no necessary relationship between the things people want on specific issues and how they vote in elections. This was no more congenial then than now since he lost his head in the French Revolution. Only a market with its wide array of alternatives can guarantee that a person s first choice will be fulfilled. Unlike substitutable products, there can be only one president. So, the founders limited the functions of government, divided power and used elections as the best-worst tool to make decisions.
Constitutions are fragile things.
Legislative decisions are expected to be political so they do not undermine law, which is what makes that choice by the Supreme Court so sound. What counts is supporting constitutional rules of law even when they seem less than logical. That is a lesson well worth the Florida mess. Donald Devine , former director Of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is a columnist and a Washington-based policy consultant and a Vice Chairman for the American Conservative Union.